| 释义 |
▪ I. open, n.|ˈəʊp(ə)n|
[Partly vbl. n. f. open v.; partly ellipt. use of open a.]
I.
1. a. = opening vbl. n. 2; an aperture.
c1470Henry Wallace viii. 1065 The fyr brak in at all opynnys about. 1483Cath. Angl. 260/2 Þ⊇ Opyn of y⊇ hede, calvaria. 1686Burnet Lett. Trav. Switzerland, etc. iv. (1750) 233 At the Top there is an Open left of thirty Foot in Diameter. 1726Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. II. 41/1 The height of the Open of that door is divided into three parts. 1782A. Monro Anat. Bones, Nerves, etc. 66 The..unossified.. part of the cranium [in] new-born children, called by the vulgar the open of the head. 1885Mrs. C. Praed Head Station 21 Other dusky forms..sprawled on red blankets at the open of their gunyahs.
b. The mouth or estuary of a river.
1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4655/3 The Dunwich..gave Chace to a French Privateer..in the open of Humber, and..took her, and brought her into the River.
c. local. (Lincolnsh.) A gap in the sand dunes through which a road passes to the shore.
Mod. We drove through Theddlethorpe Open [or Opening].
d. Mining. (See quot.)
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Opens, large caverns.
2. = opening vbl. n. 5.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 293 The poor..shadow of an adversary has said as little for his cause as can be imagin'd, and given as many opens and advantages as cou'd be desir'd. 1757E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) II. 230 Perhaps this may leave an open to sarcasm. 1866Trollope Claverings xxx, Down he went, and not finding a good open for a hazard, again waxed himself to the cushion.
II. n. use of open a.
†3. Open, unconcealed, or plainly seen condition. Phr. in open, (a) in public, openly; (b) clearly, plainly; into open, into public view, etc. Obs.
1382Wyclif Wisd. xiv. 17 These whom in opene men myȝten not wrshipen. 1388― (Purvey) Luke viii. 17 Nether hid thing, which schal not be knowun, and come in to open. 1390Gower Conf. I. 62 He seith in open, fy! to Sinne, And in secre ther is no vice Of which that he nis a Norrice. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas i. vi. (1554) 9 Their piteous fate in open to expresse. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 405 The Lady Anne..This day was view'd in open as his Queene. 1646Bp. Maxwell Burd. Issach. in Phenix (1708) II. 285 You shall have them anon in open contemning Sovereign Authority.
4. a. the open: the open space. (a) The part of the country not fenced or enclosed; (b) Clear space; ground without buildings, trees, or other ‘cover’; (c) The open water, in sea or river; (d) The open air.
1624Capt. Smith Virginia iii. 65 Presently from each side the river came arrowes..whereat we returned to get the open..we seised on all their canowes, and moored them in the midst of the open. 1732Pope Ess. Man i. 10 Try what the open, what the covert yield. 1858Kingsley My Hunting Song in Andromeda, etc. 128 One more fence and we're out on the open. 1859Lawrence Sword & Gown v. 53 [The clergyman] had never had the satisfaction of a ‘shot in the open’ at that stout-hearted sinner. 1875Wolseley in Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. vii. (ed. 2) 248 In tropical climates it is pleasant at night to bivouac in the open. 1880Daily Tel. 16 Feb., The soldier is taught how to attack in the open. 1883Harper's Mag. Aug. 445/2 The Vindex..beat in the open the..schooner.., both being reefed down. 1893Daily Tel. 3 Oct. 5/3 A quantity of ripe raspberries..grown in the open.
(e) Public knowledge or view, spec. in phrs. to come (out) into the open: to reveal one's plans, acts, thoughts, etc.; to bring (something) (out) into the open, to bring into public notice or view.
1942T. Bailey Pink Camellia v. 35 We may as well come into the open, Miss Merryman. 1965New Statesman 30 Apr. 670/2 The Tory Party statement which last year brought immigration into the open as a Birmingham election issue. 1965Listener 16 Sept. 399/2 The Peking People's Daily came out into the open, supporting Pakistan's version of events. 1976K. Royce Bustillo iv. 45 They both had something to hide... It would be better out in the open.
b. An open or clear space.
1796Hist. Ned Evans I. 193 He was astonished to see so extensive an open in the midst of a populous city. 1846J. W. Webb Altowan I. ii. 42 All openings or natural clearings are called ‘opens’ by the half-breeds of the Indian country. Ibid. viii. 201 They cautiously entered where there seemed no indication of an open. 1880Encycl. Brit. XIII. 603/1 Living in herds of from fifty to one hundred in the grassy ‘opens’. 1958Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. 28 July 4/3 The animal seemed to distrust the bald opens of the marsh.
5. a. Stock Exchange. The open market.
1898Daily News 9 May 2/3 In the open, bar gold remained in strong demand for America at about 77s. 93/4d. per ounce.
b. Electr. An accidental break in the conducting path for a current.
1913T. Croft Amer. Electricians' Handbk. i. 55 Open circuits in multiple wiring installations are usually readily located... The lamps on the generator side of the ‘open’ will..burn while those on the far side will not. 1933F. F. Fowle Stand. Handbk. Electr. Engineers (ed. 6) iii. 193 Open-circuit faults or ‘opens’ are produced by breaks in the conductors. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 320/2 The D200's..identify shorts or opens and the polarity of diodes. 1977Sci. Amer. Feb. 88/1 (Advt.), That's the beauty of the TDR, it's not limited to identifying shorts or opens—it points out any disturbances.
c. An open competition, tournament, or the like; cf. open a. 14.
1926Wodehouse Heart of Goof iv. 128 ‘After all, there is always golf.’ He nodded. ‘Yes... Who knows?.. The Amateur Championship—’ ‘The Open!’ I cried... ‘The American Amateur,’ said Chester, flushing. ‘The American Open,’ I chorused. 1930Daily Express 8 Sept. 11/4 Miss Brazier also has played in ‘opens’. 1972Country Life 7 Dec. 1600/3 Jack White who, in 1904, was the first man to break 300 in the Open. 1973Guardian 28 June 13/3 The World Open is a ten-round [chess] championship open to all-comers.
d. the Open: the Open University. colloq.
1970Guardian 29 Aug. 9/6 Along with Jennie Lee, Mrs Thatcher has a right to be seen as the saviour of the Open. 1972Ibid. 15 June 9/5 Pupils in schools..had to wait until 21 to qualify for the Open or 23 to enter other universities as ‘mature’ students.
6. Comb., as open-grown a., grown in the open air or ground.
1894Daily News 7 Apr. 5/4 Open-grown rhubarb costs 4d. the bundle.
▪ II. open, a. (adv.)|ˈəʊp(ə)n|
Forms: 1– open; also 3 (Orm.) openn, 4 -in, -ine, -ene, -enne, -one, -oun, (hop(p)yne), 4–5 opun, -on, 4–6 -yn, -yne; 5 oppyn, -on, 6 oppin, -ine, -en, (Sc. appin).
[A Com. Teut. adj.: OE. open = OS. opan (MDu., Du. open), OFris. epin, OHG. offan (MHG., Ger. offen), ON. opinn, opin, opit (Da. aaben, Sw. in comb. öppen-); not recorded in Gothic; OTeut. type *upano-, *upino-, app. from the root of up adv. In all the langs., the word has the form of a strong pa. pple., as if meaning ‘set up’, ‘put up’, but no corresponding vb. exists. Cf., however, for the sense, the obs. or dial. ‘put up the door’, ‘set up the door’ (Ger. macht die thür auf), ‘the door is up, put it to’. The o, orig. short, was lengthened in ME. at the end of the stressed syllable, as in stolen, woven, etc.]
A. adj.
I. Physical senses.
1. Of a door, gate, or the like: Not ‘put to’ the place which it fits, not closed or shut; ‘up’, set up, standing up, so as to allow free passage through. (Cf. do up (Early ME. up dōn), dup, to put ‘up’, to open.) Also said of the doorway, gateway, or other passage.
c888K. ælfred Oros. iii. v. §4 Þonne andydan hie þa duru þe on þa healfe open wæs. 971Blickl. Hom. 239 Hie ᵹemetton þæs carcernes duru opene. c1200Ormin 15536 Þatt heffness ȝate uss openn be Att ure lifess ende. c1380Wyclif Last Age Ch. p. xxviii, Every lettre in the abece may be souned wiþ opyn mouþ saue .m. lettre one. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiii. 150 Þer es nane entree open in to it. 1477Paston Lett. III. 212 There arn wyndownes blow opyn in the place. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 158 b, And to set open the fludde gates of these devises. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 60 He sal be fundin dede, and his ene appin. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 407 The Sluces of the Sky were open spread. 1726Swift Gulliver i. iv, The windows..were left open on purpose. 1749Fielding Tom Jones x. ii. The door burst open. 1859Tennyson Enid 328 The voice of Enid..rang Clear thro' the open casement of the Hall, Singing. 1884Black Jud. Shaks. xxxiv, The door was open an inch or two.
2. a. Of a containing space, a house, box, etc.: Having its gate, door, lid, or some part of its enclosing boundary drawn aside or removed so that there is free access to its interior; not shut up.
971Blickl. Hom. 239 Þin carcern open we ᵹemetton. c1000Ags. Gosp. John i. 51 ᵹe ᵹe-seoð opene heofonas. 1388Wyclif Rom. iii. 13 The throte of hem is an opyn sepulcre. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxvi. 121 Þai er open at þe sydes and laced togyder with lacez of silke. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. iii. 18 Breake open the Gaoles, and let out the Prisoners. a1682Sir T. Browne Tracts 45 The granaries were made open, the country being free from rain. 1799Med. Jrnl. II. 422 Hectic fever arises only from the matter of an open ulcer. 1816Jas. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 318 Keep the open end of the tube immersed. 1859Jephson Brittany v. 56 A pianoforte..lying open, for show, not use. 1882Ouida Maremma I. 200 The earth had yawned open in many places. 1887Dict. Nat. Biog. IX. 335/2 His head was split open with a blow. 1900Eva C. E. Lückes Gen. Nursing xi, If it is desired to keep the blister ‘open’. a1902Mod. Standing beside the open grave. They found the drawer open and its contents strewed about the floor.
b. Hence, Free of entrance or admission to all (or to persons specified).
971Blickl. Hom. 61 Se ᵹifra helle bið á open deoflum. 1784Cowper Let. 19 July, When Bedlam was open to the cruel curiosity of holiday ramblers. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague iii. i. 100 Even the house of God Was open to the Plague. 1891Speaker 2 May 534/1 The old universities are open to all, without distinction of rank or creed.
c. Of a shop, public house, etc.: accessible to use by customers (at a particular time); available for business; they are open: the public houses are open.
1824E. Weeton Let. 8 June in Jrnl. of Governess (1969) II. 287 As I go to any place of Worship, fruit stalls are in the road, and confectioners shops open, as on any other day. 1836Dickens Sunday under Three Heads i. 5 In streets like Holborn and Tottenham Court Road, which form the central market of a large neighbourhood, inhabited by a vast number of mechanics and poor people, a few shops are open at an early hour of the morning. 1942‘S. Campion’ Bonanza 19 It was eleven—‘they’ were open. 1952E. O'Neill Moon for Misbegotten iii. 152 There'll be a speak open, and some drunk laughing. Ibid. iv. 173 The bar at the Inn won't be open for hours. 1961‘E. Fenwick’ Friend of Mary Rose (1962) i. 16, I was talking to Mrs. Rudd... I wanted to be sure she was open. 1965J. Porter Dover Three ii. 30 Just one question, laddie... Are they open yet? 1973A. Mann Tiara xiii. 118 Piccoli's will still be open. Shall I nip down and get pictures of all these types?
d. Designating a prison, borstal, or the like where the inmates are seldom or never locked up.
1946Rep. Commissioners of Prisons 1939–41 47 in Parl. Papers 1945–6 (Cmd. 6820) XIV. 281 All were now required to pass straight from the restraint of a prison wall to associated life in buildings designed as a perfectly open Borstal. 1950Prisons & Borstals (Home Office) 20 The first prison camp in England was started in connection with the training prison at Wakefield in 1933... The open prison is therefore beyond the stage of experiment: it is a well-established feature of this as of many other prison systems. 1957Economist 2 Nov. 397/3 Miss Size's last job was as Governor of the first open prison for women, at Askham Grange, near York, a pleasant Victorian mansion where there are neither high walls nor keys. 1964M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. v. 69 Open borstals had a higher success rate than closed borstals, at all levels of expected failure. 1972P. D. James Unsuitable Job vii. 210 Perhaps they would send her to an open prison. Open. It was a contradiction in terms.
e. open heart, a practically bloodless heart that has been temporarily by-passed and cut open for examination or surgery; usu. attrib.
1950Surgery XXVIII. 474 Recent rapid strides in the field of vascular surgery are leading inevitably to the point where a direct surgical attack on the open heart is possible. 1960Sci. Amer. Feb. 84/1 The cardiac surgery group at Minnesota has now performed nearly 1,000 open-heart operations with the aid of the heart-lung machine or other methods of by-pass. 1977Private Eye 1 Apr. 5/3 As he recovers from open-heart surgery (new valves) Sir Christopher Soames is confident of an early return to Parliament.
3. a. Of a space: Not shut in or confined, not surrounded by barriers; to which there is free access or passage on all or nearly all sides; unenclosed, unwalled, unconfined. See also open air.
c825Kent. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 82/9 Urbs patens, open burh. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 110 For comon þe folk it wan, wod open & forest. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) x. 38 It es noȝt lang sen þe sepulchre was all open, þat men myȝt kisse it and touche it. Bot..þe sowdan has gert make a wall aboute þe graue. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 139 b, The people would not assemble..in no houses, but in open places. 1611Bible Gen. i. 20 Foule that may flie..in the open firmament of heauen. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, Mor. & Hist. Wks. (Bohn) 332 The fields then being open and champain. 1704Lond. Gaz. No. 3991/2 The Enemy..sent a strong Party into an open Village. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 20 A vast open Ocean. 1789Times 28 June 4/4 The House is open and airy backwards. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. iv. 429 He was obliged to abandon the open country, and to depend upon his forts. 1885Law Rep. 14 Queen's Bench Div. 918 The footpath ran over an open moor.
b. Hence, of a battle: Fought in the open (and not in a fortress or stronghold), and so with full forces.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 110 b, To avoyde open ioynyng,..force to force. Ibid., He determined never..to fight in open battaill with the Englishmen, nor by a feld to adventure. 1706Prior Ode to Queen 206 We our forts and lines forsake, To dare our British foes to open fight. 1765Smollett Hist. Eng. (1804) V. 263 Generally speaking, their parties declined an open engagement. 1865Kingsley Herew. xix, What men they could afford him, in case of open battle.
4. a. Not covered over or covered in; having no roof, lid, or other covering; esp. in open boat, open car, open carriage; open crown, a crown without the arched-over top (considered in modern heraldry to symbolize sovereignty); a coronet; also, a badge or ornament resembling a coronet.
971Blickl. Hom. 125 Seo myccle cirice..seo is ufan open & unoferhrefed. 1535Coverdale Num. xix. 15 Euery open vessel that hath no lydd nor couerynge is vncleane. 1573–80Baret Alv. O 109 Open aboue: not couered ouer. 1720Lond. Gaz. No. 5898/7 Four Hundred open Boats. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 145 They let the water stand in a large open bason. 1771[see open-top in 22 a]. 1797Lady Newdigate Let. 30 July in A. E. Newdigate-Newdegate Cheverels (1898) xiv. 200, I have never felt y⊇ Downs too hot for my open Carriage till yesterday, when I was forced to put up y⊇ Head to shade me from y⊇ Sun. 1803A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. IV. 255 The poor fellow and his dumb companion, in an open boat, were left to the mercy of this immense ocean. 1803M. Wilmot Let. 6 Aug. in Russ. Jrnls. (1934) i. 36 We drove about in an open Carriage, the night was lovely. 1854Ld. Houghton in Life (1891) I. xi. 497 A drive in an open carriage and four. 1878Act 41 & 42 Vict. c. 14 §5 No covered or open swimming-bath when closed may be used for music or dancing. 1882Cussans Heraldry xvii. (ed. 3) 238 The earliest coins struck by Henry the Seventh bear an open Crown with fleur-de-lys on the rim. 1948M. Laski Tory Heaven ix. 123 An open car..ceases to be a source of pure pleasure after a certain age. 1976Times 1 Mar. 13/6 Having read the correspondence for and against..seat belts, it seems that no one has put forward the case for the driver of the open car. 1977G. V. Higgins Dreamland xii. 139 A small four-passenger open car with a canvas roof.
b. Of a fire: that is not enclosed in a stove or the like; also of a fireplace.
1876B. Champneys Rep. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 238 A large open-fire ventilating grate. 1886[see flue-curing s.v. flue n.3 6]. 1894Country Gentlemen's Catal. 117/1 The Nautilus dog grate... A cheerful open fire. 1926Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 24 Jan. 20/1 He used to be heard singing..at night, beside his open fire. 1931E. O'Neill Homecoming ii, in Mourning becomes Electra (1932) 51 At rear, centre, is an open fireplace. 1949M. Laski Little Boy Lost x. 150 ‘How nice to see an open fire,’ he said tritely. Madame Mercatel laughed... ‘One finds open fireplaces in many old French houses.’ 1965in P. Jennings Living Village (1968) 122 It looks as if open coal fires are on the way out in England at last. 1976‘Trevanian’ Main xiii. 249 He enjoys fiddling with open fires... The bark has begun to crackle and flutter with blue flame.
5. a. Not covered so as to be concealed or protected; bare, exposed. See also wide open s.v. wide adv. 3 b. open jet: see sense 22 c.
Beowulf 2271 Hord-wynne fond eald uht-sceaða opene standan. 1390Gower Conf. II. 260 With open hed and fot al bare. c1449Pecock Repr. i. xx. 124 Noone wommen weriden thanne..keuercheefis, but weriden her open heer. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 254 He thus lyenge wyde open, & they goynge ouer hym & bestrydynge hym. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. viii. 348 When any one dyed, they layd him open in a chamber, vntill that all his kinsfolkes and friends were come. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort., Feb. (1729) 193 Sow Alaternus Seeds in Cases, or open Beds. 1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. 309 Upper Jaws..Open, when they are not quite concealed by the upper lip. 1840Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. iii. 323 They will probably require to be laid open with the knife. 1962Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 728/2 The majority of switchgear manufactured up to 11 kV is of the metal-enclosed type and above this the trend is towards outdoor open type switchgear. 1968Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 12 Open arc, an arc lamp in which the electrodes burn in free air.
†b. with open face: with uncovered face; hence, confidently, frankly; also, brazenly. Obs.
1388Wyclif 2 Cor. iii. 18 We that with open [1382 schewid, Vulg. revelata] face seen the glorie of the Lord. 1474Caxton Chesse 31 We may goon with open face and good conscience. 1650–3tr. Hales' Dissert. de Pace in Phenix (1708) II. 384 Men..who..did..with open face, as they say, vent Blasphemies and Impieties. 1761Lloyd Ep. to Churchill 11 Critics of old, a manly liberal race, Approv'd or censur'd with an open face.
c. Of a telephone line or other transmission line: above ground.
1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 158 Telegraph lines are..1st. Those in which open, that is overground, wires are employed. 1909Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. XXVIII. 1079 Even the best cable circuit is much less efficient than an open-wire circuit. 1925Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. IV. 524 Practically all long toll circuits were in open wire construction; that is, individual wires mounted..on poles. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIV. 48/1 Open-wire construction is used for communication or power transmission wherever practical and permitted, as in open country.
d. Med. Communicating with or exposed to the air; involving the deliberate exposure of an interior part of the body, esp. a fracture, so as to make it directly accessible.
1894J. C. Da Costa Man. Mod. Surg. xviii. 307 Compound fracture is an open fracture, or one in which an open wound admits air to the seat of bone-injury. 1897Stimson & Rogers Man. Operative Surg. (ed. 3) v. 257 (heading) Suture of the patella. I. Open Method. 1944C. A. Pannett Surg. xliii. 541 Union of the fracture after open operation always takes longer than if a closed method has been employed. 1949P. Kiely Text-bk. Surg. xxvi. 700 Injuries to the Bowel. These may be subcutaneous or open. 1969F. T. Hoagland in S. I. Schwartz Princ. Surg. xlvi. 1658/2 Open reduction [of a fracture] carries the risk of local infection. 1975Nature 10 Apr. 529/1 Human liver obtained by open biopsy.
e. Med. Of (a case of) tuberculosis: accompanied by the discharge of infectious material from the body.
1930J. A. Myers Tuberculosis among Children ii. 9 The source of infection is found to be cases of open tuberculosis in the homes. 1939Brit. Encycl. Med. Pract. XII. 288 The rapid decline in the number of open cases of tuberculosis..have reduced the sources of infection. 1961Times 30 June 15/3 Infectious (or ‘open’) tuberculosis. 1974Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. III. i. xiv. 2/2 Occasionally outbreaks have occurred in young tuberculin-negative adults who have been heavily exposed to open cases [of tuberculosis].
6. Not having the marginal parts drawn, folded, or rolled together; unclosed, expanded, spread out.
c1470Henry Wallace xi. 1399 To lat him haiff his Psaltyr buk in sycht. He gert a preyst it oppyn befor him hauld. 1513W. de Worde Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. 278 All maner of fowles hauynge open clawes as a capon. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 57 Helytropium..hes the leyuis appin as lang as the soune is in our hemispere. 1611Bible 1 Kings vi. 32 Caruings of..palme trees, and open flowers. 1857Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 331 With..the open sheet in her hand. 1865Trollope Belton Est. ii. 15 Having an open letter in his hand.
7. a. Of a line, texture, etc.: Having apertures or spaces between its parts; containing interstices, gaps, holes, or unoccupied spaces; perforated; porous.
open order (Mil.), a formation in which the individual men are three or more yards apart; (Naval), a formation in which the individual ships are more than a cable's length apart. open harmony (Mus.), a harmony in which the chords are separated by wide intervals.
1625Markham Soldier's Accid. 12 In Files..Open Order is sixe foote betweene person and person..in Rankes..to stand or march at Open-Order, is ever twelue foote. 1663Gerbier Counsel 29 A ranck of open teeth. 1686W. Harris tr. Lemery's Course Chym. i. vi. (ed. 3) 150 You had better use Verdegreese..because it is more open and disposed for solution by the acids of Vinegar. 1796Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 54 Changes of position in open column, are in general movements of previous disposition. 1805Adm. Stirling in Naval Chron. XV. 81 The signal for sailing in open order. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 229 Open ice, or sailing-ice, is where the pieces are so separate as to admit of a ship sailing conveniently among them. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 182 Unless a very open and porous collodion be used. 1880Gray Struct. Bot. iv. §2 (ed. 6) 134 The æstivation is said to be Open or Indeterminate when the parts do not come into contact in the bud, so as to cover those within.
b. Chem. and Metallurgy. (See quot. 1938).
1938Hume-Rothery & Raynor in Phil. Mag. XXVI. 130 A rough indication of the nature of a metal or alloy may be obtained by comparing the interatomic distances in the crystal with the suitably defined ionic radii of the atoms concerned. In brief, if the ionic radius is small compared with the interatomic distance, we shall have a metal of what may be called the ‘open’ type, whilst if the ionic radii are nearly equal to the interatomic distances we shall have a metal of the ‘full’ type, with many different properties. 1967A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xix. 322 In open metals we need consider only the valency electrons, for the electrons in the ionic shells are negligibly disturbed by the metallic binding.
8. a. Of a passage or space: Not occupied by anything that prevents passage or view; free from obstructions; unobstructed, clear. Of a country: Free from wood, buildings, etc. Of a river, port, etc.: Not frozen over, free from ice. Esp. in open space; spec. an area without buildings in a city or town; a small park or the like for public recreation; also great (or wide) open spaces: large tracts of open country.
c1400Destr. Troy 1575 The Stretis were..of stronge brede, For ymur & aire opon in þe myddis. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 57 Makyng open passage by dent of swerde. 1587Golding De Mornay xiv. 214 He is made to come foorth into an opener place, where he may haue what to see and to behold. 1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1587/2 The Empress and her Court will remain till the River be open, so that she may go by Water. 1709Steele Tatler No. 7 ⁋21 The Ice being broke, the Sound is again open for the Ships. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 319 The country was all open, with very little wood, and no trees. 1809Kendall Trav. III. lxxii. 129 The road..is over very rocky land, recently laid open by burning the trees. 1827J. S. Buckingham Trav. Mesopotamia I. xi. 375 Attached to it are extensive stables, and a Maidan, or open space, where the horses are kept in the air. 1850Househ. Words 3 Aug. 451/2 Suburban open spaces are being entombed in brick-and-mortar mausoleums. 1869A. Mackenzie (title) The parks, open spaces and thoroughfares of London. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 3) IV. xviii. 157 The besieged must have had the river and the sea open to them during..the siege. 1896Sir R. Hunter (title) The Preservation of Open Spaces and of Footpaths and Other Rights of Way. 1910H. G. Wells New Machiavelli (1911) i. iv. 131, I recall as if I had been there the wide open spaces, the ragged hillsides [of South Africa]. 1913C. B. Purdom Garden City viii. 112 An open space in a city has come to mean..even a disused churchyard... In the Garden City the characteristics of the open space belong to the town as a whole. 1924Wodehouse Leave it to Psmith viii. 138 You will find me somewhere out there in the great open spaces where men are men. 1942Ann. Reg. 1941 286 Mr. G. E. Hatfield..bequeathed to the National Trust Marden Hall estate,..for preservation as an open space. 1943Our Towns (Women's Group on Public Welfare) p. xvi, The special town conditions of overcrowding, lack of open spaces, smoke and noise. 1944[see closed book s.v. closed ppl. a. 3]. 1965K. Giles Some Beasts no More i. 12 A phony passport, maybe, and life anew in the great open spaces. 1969S. Coulter Embassy xiv. 159 The big huskies, the boys from the wide open spaces. 1971Daily Tel. 13 July 2/8 The Wimbledon centre court was not an open space within the meaning of the 1936 Public Order Act. 1974Guardian 28 Mar. 19/3 What do people want today—apart from open space? 1975Times 8 Feb. 10/4 If you seek clean fresh air and the wide open spaces (cliche though it is, that phrase is exactly right), this is the place.
b. Of the bodily passages: Not obstructed; esp. of the bowels: Not constipated.
1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 215 When folke be most open,..Then go they to stooles that be made most close. 1710Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 427 Oil, Butter, and course Bread, and Hony-drinks keep the Body open. 1812J. Baillie Advice to Mothers x. 142 Magnesia alba,..a lenient purgative, and keeps the body gently open. 1823–4Lancet (ed. 3) 447 Bowels not open.
9. a. Of the soil: Unbound by frost or heat; loose, permeable. b. Of weather or season: Free from frost, as an open winter; also Naut., free from fog or mist.
1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 19 In winter..open, calme, and moist weather is best. 1647A. Ross Mystag. Poet. xv. (1675) 376 Sometimes she [the earth] is open, as in the Summer and Spring. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 98 That while the Turf lies open, and unbound, Succeeding Suns may bake the Mellow Ground. 1714Swift Corr. Wks. 1841 II. 523 Hay will certainly be dear unless we have an open winter. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) M b, The weather is said to be clear when it is fair and open. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 107 The meetings shall be held the first open week in or after November. 1884D. C. Murray in Graphic Christm. No. 20/2 The weather being fine and open and dry.
10. Naut.
†a. Looking unobstructedly upon or to; in full view (obs.).
b. Seen with an opening between; clear, detached. Cf. open v. 8.
1478Botoner Itin. (Nasmith 1778) 110 Insula Sancti Michaelis de Loo jacet anglice opyn upon villæ Loo. Ibid., Le forland de Raume opyn upon Plymmouth. 1530Palsgr. 573 Our shyppe wente to wrake open upon Donkyrke (..tout deuant Donkyrke). 1670Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. late Voy. i. (1711) 62 When you are at the West-part of this Narrow, you will see three Islands come open, which shew to be steep up Cliffs. 1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2112/4 They are to keep the Great Light a little open to the Eastward of the Small One, to avoid their coming ashore upon the Main. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. x, I found myself open to the northern shore. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1863 As we stood off, the most westerly of the two hills..came open off the bluff point, in a N.W. direction. 1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 227 Until you observe the spire..its breadth open of Bradley's head.
11. In various technical uses:
a. Music. Of an organ-pipe: Not closed or shut at the top. Of a string: Not stopped by a finger. Of a brass instrument: not muted. Of a cymbal: left free to vibrate. Hence, of a note, Produced by such a pipe or string, or by the lip of a performer on a wind-instrument without the aid of a slide, key, or piston.
1674Playford Skill Mus. ii. 93 Tune it till it agree in sound with your Treble open. Ibid. 104 The open shake. 1811Busby Dict. Mus. s.v. 1852Seidel Organ 80 We call a pipe open, if its upper end or aperture is not shut up. 1856Mrs. C. Clarke tr. Berlioz' Instrument. 4 Keeping the majority of his strings open. 1880W. H. Stone in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 757 Depressing the open note a tone and a semitone. 1888Murray's Mag. III. No. 14 The transition from open to closed tones should not be quite abrupt. 1926Melody Maker Mar. 30 Nothing is better suited to obtain a highly successful result than the beautiful, sweet full tone of the open instrument, and I advise all artistes to try a few ‘open’ solos. 1927Ibid. June 609/3 The cymbal must be ‘open’ when it is struck and must remain ‘open’ for practically the full length of the beat being played, only being choked out just before the next beat. 1955Keepnews & Grauer Pict. Hist. Jazz xiii. 141 Cootie Williams,..strictly an open-horn stylist until he took over Bubber Miley's chair and produced a fine, muted ‘jungle’ sound. 1956B. Edwards in S. Traill Play that Music vi. 60 Short-damped cymbal beats or loud and frequently aimless open ones. 1967Crescendo Apr. 7/2 The Les Brown trick of trumpets in tin mutes playing above open trombones. 1972Jazz & Blues Nov. 11/3 Razor-sharp riffs, and sweeping, open-horn statements.
b. Entom. (See quot.)
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. 341 Open. Areolets that terminate in the margin of the wing, or that are not surrounded on all sides by nervures.
c. Bot. (See quot.)
1875Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 93 There are..bundles devoid of and bundles containing cambium; the former may be termed closed, the latter open... The open fibro-vascular bundle..continues to produce new layers of permanent tissue on both sides of its cambium.
d. Of sounds: Uttered with the mouth open. spec. Of vowels: Produced with a wider opening of the oral cavity than those called close; e.g. open o and open e (= ɔ, ɛ), close o and e (= o, e).
1485in Rutland Papers (Camden) 16 My lord Cardinall..shall syng with open voice iij tymes Vt presentem famulum tuum. 1503Dunbar Thistle & Rose 59 The birdis did with oppin vocis cry. 1611Florio Ital. Dict. 618 The Italians haue two very different sounds for the two vowels, E. and O. which for distinctions sake, they name the one close and the other open. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 347 These equal syllables alone require, Tho' oft' the ear the open vowels tire. 1867A. J. Ellis E.E. Pronunc. i. iii. 65 Ben Jonson's conception of the French sound [of a] must have been opener than the English. 1889B. H. Kennedy Rev. Lat. Prim. 3 The most open sound is a; the closest sharp sound is i.
e. Of a syllable: Ending in a vowel, as opposed to a closed (close, shut) syllable which ends in a consonant.
1845W. E. Jelf Gram. Greek Lang. I. iii. 30 When a syllable ends with a vowel it is called an open, when with a consonant, a close syllable. 1871Public Sch. Lat. Gram. 6 An inner syllable is called open, if it ends with a vowel, close if it ends with a consonant. 1891L. Soames Introd. Phonetics 74 The short accented vowels never occur in open syllables. a1902Mod. A Latin short vowel in an open stressed syllable is long in Romanic; e.g. L. bŏ-nus, It. buô-no, Sp. bue-no, Eng. bō-nus. An original short a, e, o in a stressed open syllable became long in ME.; e.g. OE., Early ME. ŏ-pen, later ME., mod.Eng. ō-pen. Welsh, unlike modern Teutonic, Romanic, and Greek, retains a short stressed vowel in an open syllable, as in Bă-lă (distinct from Eng. Bā-lă, or Băl-ă).
f. Electr. Having a break in the conducting path for an electric current; esp. in open circuit (see sense 22 c).
1827, etc. [see open circuit]. 1869Phil. Mag. XXVIII. 2 When the shunt is open the battery is unable to send a steady current through the voltameter. 1884S. P. Thompson Dynamo-Electr. Machinery vii. 133 Dynamos..which leave the circuits of some of the armature coils open during part of the rotation, are sometimes termed ‘open-circuit’ dynamos. 1901Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 617/2 If a new machine, the switches should be left open, the brushes lifted, and the machine allowed to run without load for a little time. 1962J. P. Gregory in G. A. T. Burdett Automatic Control Handbk. ii. 21 With the initiating switch open, the timing capacitor..is charged to the peak value of the a.c. voltage. 1975I. Clucas Reed's Electr. for Deck Officers vii. 212 The inductance in the circuit..tries to maintain the current once the switch is open.
g. Of a game of chess: developed either by gambits or by opening up the files. Cf. close a. 2 c.
1856C. Tomlinson Chess-Player's Ann. 75 He was a very accomplished player, and generally preferred open games, gambits, &c. 1890R. F. Green Chess v. 14 An Open Game is one in which the development is effected chiefly in advance of the pawns. P to K4 as a first move on both sides, leads generally to an open game; and formerly all games begun in this way were called open—other openings being treated as close. 1917J. du Mont tr. Lasker's Chess Strategy (ed. 2) iv. 43 We find an early break-up of the centre, and concurrently the opening of the Ks or Qs file for the Rooks. That is why games opened in this fashion have been classed very generally as ‘open’, whilst all the other openings are called ‘close games’. 1936W. Winter Chess for Match Players ii. 24 In the category of Open games come the vast majority of the King's side openings. 1959H. Golombek Mod. Opening Chess Strategy 11 Certain openings suit certain people—some like an open type of game, others prefer a close.
h. Med. Applied to methods of administering anæsthetics in which the patient's respiratory tract is in communication with the air so that exhaled air is not rebreathed.
1888D. W. Buxton Anæsthetics v. 78 The open method... A common towel is arranged so as to form a square of six folds, and enough choloroform is poured upon it to wet an area the size of a hand's palm. 1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 137/2 The induction of anaesthesia by the open method is liable to be somewhat prolonged. 1972J. C. Snow Anesthesia v. 39 The Ayre T-tube system is another example of an open or semi-open system.
i. Math. Of a set of points: not containing any of its boundary points. Of an interval in the real line: not containing either of its end points.
1902Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. XXXIV. 289 Open sets of points. 1939M. H. A. Newman Elem. Topology of Plane Sets of Points ii. 25 The sum of any set of open sets is an open set. 1956E. M. Patterson Topology ii. 23 An example of a set which is not open is the set defined by 0≤xn is defined to be a set of points whose coordinates satisfy the inequalities aiii..where the ai may be - ∞ and the bi, + ∞. An open interval is clearly an open set.
j. Logic and Math. Of a statement or equation: containing at least one free variable or undetermined quantity.
1937A. Smeaton tr. Carnap's Logical Syntax of Lang. i. 21 If a variable which is free in 𝔘1 occurs in 𝔘1, then 𝔘1 is called open; otherwise it is called closed. Ibid., Our classification into closed and open sentences corresponds to the usual classification into sentences and sentential functions. 1952S. C. Kleene Introd. Metamath. vii. 151 Let A be a formula containing free exactly the distinct variables x1,{ddd}, xn in order of first occurrence. According as n>0 or n= 0, we call A open or closed. 1963W. V. Quine Set Theory 1 Imagine a sentence about something. Put a blank or variable where the thing is referred to. You have no longer a sentence..but an open sentence, so called, that may hold true of each of various things and be false of others. 1967M. L. Tomber Introd. Contemporary Algebra ii. 63, 5·3-1= 5/3 is a solution of the open equation 3x= 5. 1971Sci. Amer. Mar. 55 The technique of long division represents a decision procedure for the predicate ‘x is divisible by y’, where x and y can be any natural numbers. (A predicate is an open sentence: one that can be completed by assigning names to its variables.)
k. Astr. Of the universe: having a negative or zero radius of curvature; spatially infinite and always expanding.
1937E. Hubble Observational Approach Cosmol. iii. 55 The radius [of curvature] in our universe might be positive, negative, or zero, and might be large or small... A negative curvature implies open space, an infinite universe. 1965J. D. North Measure of Universe vi. 135 The logical advantages of an open model were generally thought to be fewer than those of a model with positive curvature. 1976New Scientist 2 Dec. 514/1 Indirect evidence for a low-density (or ‘open’) Universe—one which will expand for ever—comes from the recent discovery that deuterium (heavy hydrogen) exists in interstellar space. 1978Daily Tel. 27 Mar. 7/2 This question of whether the universe will prove to be ‘open’ or ‘closed’ raises an important philosophical question about the existence of God. If the cosmos is going to expand for ever,..for countless thousands of millions of years of its future history, life anywhere will be impossible.
II. Non-physical senses.
12. Exposed to the mental view, brought to light; patent, evident, plain, clear, easy to understand. Now only in to lay open, to lay bare, reveal, explain, ‘expose’.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §3 Ða cwæþ ic: ᵹenoᵹ open hit is. c1200Ormin 731 Þatt wass wurrþshipe inoh til menn, & ec full openn takenn Þatt heore streon wass Drihhtin leof. a1340Hampole Psalter xxxvi. 31 Þis has na nede of expounynge for it is opon ynoghe. 1382Wyclif Matt. xxvi. 73 Treuly and thou art of hem, for whi and thi speche makith thee opyn. 1395Purvey Remonstr. (1851) 51 It is opin at ighe that the bisshop of Rome hath not so greet power in worchyng of miracles..as Petir and Paul hadden. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 18 Yf eny worde seme derke: yt is lefull to make yt more open by more esy translacion. 1588J. Udall Diotrephes (Arb.) 8 Laye open your former speches that I may vnderstand your meaning. 1611Bible Prov. xiii. 16 A foole layeth open his folly. 1706Hearne Collect. 7 Feb. (O.H.S.) I. 180 He lays open some sort of People in..too lively Colours. 1799Mackintosh Stud. Law Nat. Wks. 1846 I. 379, I shall next endeavour to lay open the general principles of civil and criminal laws. 1836W. Irving Astoria I. 68 They..laid open to him the whole scheme of Mr. Astor..and inquired whether they..could lawfully engage in it.
13. a. Exposed to general view or knowledge; existing, performed or carried on without concealment or so that all may see, hear, or take cognizance; public; † also, declared in public or by public authority. Of persons: Acting in public or without concealment. spec. Designating administration or government in which the public is kept well-informed and is invited to participate.
c893K. ælfred Oros. v. xiii. §2 Antonius him selfum onbeád ᵹewin and openne feóndscipe. c1000Ags. Gosp. John vii. 4 Ne deð nan man nan þing on diᵹlum ac secþ þæt hit open sy. c1200Ormin 10352 Wiþþ all full openn spæche. 13..Cursor M. 27355 (Cott.) Þat he ne mak opine knaulage of all his sak. 1386Rolls of Parlt. III. 225/1 Wronges subtiles, and also open oppressions, ydo to hem. c1400Destr. Troy 11565 Hit was ordant of all men by oppon assent. c1425Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 59 Anooyn the godly myracle was made opyne. 1548Geste Serm. in H. G. Dugdale Life (1840) 190 Which sentence..he caused to be wryten in his palace and all other open workes [public buildings]. 1558Act 1 Eliz. c. 2 §4 Mattens, Euensong, administration of the Sacraments or other open Prayers..(Open Prayer in and throughout this Act, is meant that Prayer which is for other to come vnto, or hear..). 1712Arbuthnot J. Bull i. viii, This affair between Hocus and Mrs. Bull was now so open, that all the world were scandalized at it. 1844Thirlwall Greece VIII lxii. 144 Cleombrotus he treated with open contempt. 1884Law Times Rep. L. 255/2 He took his notes in the most open manner possible, sitting in one of the front seats. 1968R. M. Nixon in N.Y. Times 20 Sept. 33/2 It's time we once again had an open administration—open to ideas from the people, and open in its communication with the people—an administration of open doors, open eyes, and open minds. 1971J. Aitken Officially Secret xv. 211 The absence of effective checks and controls on the activities of the contemporary Civil Service has recently led to demands for ‘more open government’. 1973Public Administration LI. 428 ‘Open government’ and ‘greater public participation’ were becoming increasingly fashionable political slogans at this time. 1975Times 11 Jan. 12/2 The need for ‘open government’, in which people are informed about what is being decided and have a chance to make their own suggestions. 1976Ld. Home Way Wind Blows vii. 115 That this crisis was averted was in the greatest part due to the instinct for fair play and open government practised by the Tunku Abdul Rahman. 1977Time (Overseas ed.) 17 Jan. 13/1 The coalition's goal, explained Dowiyogo in an interview with the Australian: to replace DeRobert's increasingly personal rule with ‘open government—that is, to tell the people what we plan to do and why’. 1978Times 17 Mar. 6/5 The Civil Service Department has refused a formal request from The Times, arising from the Prime Minister's open-government policy announced last July, that background material used in the preparation of the White Paper on the Civil Service published on Wednesday should be disclosed.
b. Of a place of work: in which both union and non-union workers are employed, esp. open-shop (cf. closed shop); also attrib. orig. U.S.
1896Typogr. Jrnl. IX. 445 Our next efforts were directed to the Morning Leader, also an ‘open’ office. 1901World's Work (N.Y.) July 914/2 The shop had previously been an ‘open’ one—that is, union and non-union men were employed without distinction. 1904N.Y. Even. Post 15 Aug. 2 The Exposition is conducted along the lines of an ‘open shop’, by permitting the employment of both union and non-union labor. 1906Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 1 Jan. 133 What is all this talk that's in the papers about the open shop? 1909Daily Chron. 3 May 1/5 The strike has originated in the intention..to enforce an ‘open shop’ on the lake boats. 1939Sun (Baltimore) 18 Apr. 22/7 As a direct result of the shutting down of union mines.., ‘open-shop’ mines in Garret county..were working at maximum capacity. 1964E. H. Powell in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 333 The open-shop crusade of the 'twenties was known as the ‘American plan’.
14. Not confined or limited to a few, generally accessible or available; that may be used, shared, or competed for without restriction.
open champion, one who has been successful in a competition or ‘championship’ thus open. open communion: see communion 7.
1460J. Capgrave Chron. (1858) 113 This man [K. Alfred]..mad an open Scole of divers Sciens at Oxenford. 1493in Poulson Hist. Beverley (1829) I. 256 So that he kepe no oppyn shopp in retayling. 1642Vindic. King p. i, Since the Times hath given an open Presse to cleere every imagination which is not stifled in this Dampe. c1750in Westm. Gaz. (1901) 5 Dec. 1/3 Upon the Foot of a Free and Open Trade to all His Majesty's Subjects. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. i. 3 There were a large number of open fellowships. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 213 The mystery was now an open secret. 1884Pall Mall G. 21 Aug. 9/1 Claret Open Hunters' Stakes (Two miles). 1884G. Allen Philistia I. 44 He got..an open scholarship..at the college. 1896Daily News 27 Apr. 4/6 Professional competition—Victory of the open champion.
15. a. Without defence or protection, esp. of a mental or spiritual kind; exposed, liable, or subject to.
c1450tr. De Imitatione i. xxv. 37 The religiose man þat is wiþoute discipline is open to a greuous falle. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xl. (Percy Soc.) 202 The youth is open to all fraylte. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1577) L v b, A daungerous place that lay open uppon gunshot. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. ii. 8 The seruice..Hath left me open to all iniuries. 1782Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. ii. 158 Dangerous constructions to which they are now too much open. 1865Ch. Times 18 Nov., Whether they really beat ours..may be open to question. 1891Law Times XC. 250/2 It seems open to doubt.
b. to lay (one) open to: to render (one) liable to (something), to expose (one) to.
1853C. Brontë Villette I. viii. 149, I shall make blunders that will lay me open to the scorn of the most ignorant. Ibid. x. 183 There was something in it that pleased, but something too that brought surging up into the mind all one's foibles and weak points: all that could lay one open to a laugh. 1931T. R. G. Lyell Slang 455 Judging by the people he knows and the books he reads and recommends, he certainly lays himself open to the suspicion of being one [sc. a Communist].
16. Not given to concealing one's thoughts or feelings; free in conversation; unreserved, frank, candid. Of persons; also of qualities, attributes, or manner showing or marked by candour.
1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 781 A good knight and a gentle,..plain and open to his enemies, and sure and secret to his friend. 1609B. Jonson Sil. Wom. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 210/1 Come, you are a strange open man, to tell everything thus. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 610 To entertain them fair with open Front And Brest. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 138 One Monarch wears an honest open Face. 1709Addison Tatler No. 97 ⁋6, I will be open and sincere with you. 1805Wordsw. Waggoner iv. 147 With careless air and open mien. 1885Howells Silas Lapham (1891) I. 283, I wish Tom would be a little opener with me.
17. Free in giving or communicating; liberal, generous, bounteous. Now chiefly in open hand, open-handed.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 32 Hee hath a Teare for Pitie, and a Hand Open (as Day) for melting Charitie. 1607― Timon v. i. 61 Sir: Hauing often of your open Bounty tasted. 1696Tate & Brady Ps. cxlv. 16 With open hand he gives. c1764Gray Owen 8 Liberal hand and open heart. 1884W. C. Smith Kildrostan i. ii. 180 How could he Have aught to leave..? You know his hand was open.
18. † Of a term or period of time: Not finished or closed (obs.). Of a matter, discussion, etc.: Not finally settled, or determined; undecided, undetermined; that may be decided according to circumstances or at will; hence, uncertain. See also open question (sense 22 c). open policy, verdict: see these words.
1562Act 5 Eliz. c. 1 §3 Justices..shall certify every Presentment..in.. the King's Bench within forty Days..if the Term be then open. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 555 The other question as to..power of leasing was still left open. 1848Arnould Mar. Insur. (1866) I. i. v. 218 An open policy is one in which the value of the subject assured..is left to be estimated in case of loss. 1892Law Times XCII. 156/1 Lord Justice Cotton..left the matter open for future consideration.
19. Of a thing, course of action, etc.: Not closed or shut against access; that can be used or reached without hindrance; accessible, available. Const. to (a person).
1526Tindale Acts xix. 38 The lawe is open, and there are ruelars. 1644Hunton Vind. Treat. Monarchy vi. 48 He..sayes ‘here the way is open enough to rebellion’. No opener then himselfe makes it. a1770Jortin Serm. (1771) I. v. 85 In the Holy Scriptures every thing necessary for general practice is open to all. 1860Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 38 Whether the invitation..which I..declined for this year, be still open to me. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. App. 633 It is open to any one to reject both stories. 1883Manch. Exam. 29 Nov. 5/1 There are three, or perhaps four, courses open to us.
20. Of a person: Accessible to appeals, offers, emotions, or ideas; ready to receive impressions, to respond to sympathy, or to entertain ideas or arguments; amenable to (pity or reason). open mind, a mind accessible to all arguments or points of view, esp. in phr. to keep an open mind. See also open-minded adj. (sense 22 c).
1672G. Fox Jrnl. in Weeks South. Quakers & Slav. 39 The people being generally tender and open. 1782F. Burney Cecilia v. v, She seems so open..to reproof..that I should hope in a short time she may also be open to conviction. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. II. vi. 140 He was..open to impressions. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §41. 149 A mind open to all theories. 1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. ii. (1875) 56 Those whose intelligence is quickest, openest, most sensitive. 1898Westm. Gaz. 10 Feb. 3/1, I..hope some open-to-conviction employer will happen on it. a1902Mod. I will not name a price, but I am open to offers. 1911G. B. Shaw Doctor's Dilemma i. 6 Schutzmacher. Oh, in my case the secret was simple enough... I'm afraid youll think it rather infra dig. Ridgeon. Oh, I have an open mind. What was the secret? 1914― Misalliance 29 Lord Summerhays. Giving the show away is a method like any other method... I should keep an open mind about it. Johnny. Has it ever occurred to you that a man with an open mind must be a bit of a scoundrel? 1974‘M. Allen’ Super Tour vi. 210 We'd rather you go into all this with an open mind. 1976Star (Sheffield) 29 Oct. 1/3 Senior detectives said they were keeping an open mind whether the attacker is the same man who has committed several rapes in the Barnsley area.
III. Phrases and Combinations.
21. Phrases. with open arms (sense 6), with arms outspread to receive; hence, with great willingness or eagerness of reception. open book, a person or thing that can be readily understood; a person who conceals nothing; also in phr. to read (someone) like an open book (cf. read v. 5 d). in open court, in the public court of justice, before the judge and the public. open ear, a listening or attentive ear. open eye, an unclosed, hence an observant or watchful eye; used esp. in phr. with open eyes to denote clear perception. open hand (see 17). open letter, a letter, esp. one written in protest against something, addressed to a particular person or persons but made public by being printed, e.g. in a newspaper. with open mouth, with mouth open to speak; also, gaping with wonder, etc.; open-mouthed. open question (see 18). to keep open doors, house, († household) or table, to provide hospitality or entertainment for visitors generally; open house, welcome or hospitality for all visitors; also attrib. (see also house n.1 18 b). See also open-tide, time.
1735Pope Prol. Sat. 142 And St. John's self..With *open arms receiv'd one Poet more. 1783F. Burney Diary 19 Nov., To Bolt Court..I went, and with open arms was I received. 1849tr. Hamilton's Fairy Tales (ed. Bohn), She instantly flew towards him with open arms.
1853G. H. Boker Bankrupt iv. ii, in Amer. Lost Plays (1940) 105, I read your black heart like an *open book. 1919Wodehouse Damsel in Distress iv. 53 There's no mystery about me. I'm an open book. 1934A. G. Street Endless Furrow xv. 254 Talk about old Nicholas Crawford's art and mystery in grocerin', why, that's an open book compared to farmin'. 1944Open book [see closed book s.v. closed ppl. a. 3]. 1973‘S. Woods’ Enter Corpse 60 ‘You haven't tried to shake them off?’ ‘What would be the good?.. My life is an open book.’
1530Palsgr. 249/2 *Opyn courte, court planiere. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 338 He hath refus'd it in the open Court, He shall haue meerly iustice and his bond. 1614R. Tailor Hog hath lost his Pearl iv. in Hazl. Dodsley XI. 478 He'd spend his judgment in the open court As now to me, without being once sollicited In his private chamber.
a1225Ancr. R. 424 Habbe euer hire *earen opene touward hire dame. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 12 b, To give open eare to his request. 1879Calderwood Mind & Br. 227 There is something additional in the open eye and open ear.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 53 Ure *eᵹen ben eure opene to biholde ure helende. 1713Berkeley Hylas & Phil. i. Wks. 1871 I. 288 Directing your open eyes towards yonder part of the heaven. 1796Jane Austen Pride & Prej. II. v, But she had chosen it with her eyes open.
1878(title) *Open letter to the English nation from Berlin. 1890R. L. Stevenson (title) Father Damien. An open letter to the Reverend Doctor Hyde of Honolulu. 1917Fortn. Rev. Nov. 748 (heading) Problems of finance: an open letter to Lord Milner. 1966Listener 6 Oct. 506/1 There are three open letters in the memorial volume. 1977Time 21 Mar. 49/1 In 1972 he attacked the Black Muslims in an open letter, an act that is thought to have led to the execution of his family.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 169 With *open mouthes and fierce corages, thei came to Quene Margaret. 1595Shakes. John iv. ii. 195, I saw a Smith..With open mouth swallowing a Taylors newes.
1530–1849 To *keep open house [see house n.1 18 b]. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 146 But the Cardinall..kept open housholde, to lordes, ladies, and all other. 1720Lond. Gaz. No. 5870/1 Most of the Presidents are to keep open Table. 1824Byron Juan xvi. lxviii. 98 Though not exactly what's called ‘open house’. 1836T. Power Impressions Amer. II. 71 Mr. Oliver was one of a class of excellent open-house men, of which class there are specimens to be found in every part of this Union. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) I. xvii. 118 A chief, who must be liberal, keep open doors, and entertain. 1907Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 8/1 On the seventieth anniversary there was an ‘open-house’ reception. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 23 Oct. 15/1 Victoria's three great laundries will hold ‘open house’ daily from 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. 1971Daily Tel. 11 Oct. 15/2 Clarksons has an ‘open house’ hospitality suite at the Majestic where free liquor is flowing almost round the clock.
22. Comb.
a. With a n., forming an attrib. phrase, as open-cell, open-class, open-crib, open-deck, open-face, open-frame, open-hand, open-house, open-letter, open-sand, open-seam, open-view, open-web: see also open-air, open-door, open-hair, open-mouth, etc.
1933Amer. Speech VIII. iii. 30 *Open-cell wing, division of the main prison building in which there were no bars on the front of the cells. 1957N.Z. Timber Jrnl. Dec. 59/2 Open-cell process, a means of impregnating wood under pressure. The preservative is retained in the cell walls only, and the cells left empty. 1971C. Bonington Annapurna South Face App. B. 243 A thin layer of open-cell foam in the sleeves. Ibid. 249 Open-cell foam mattresses.
1949R. K. Merton Social Theory ii. iv. 136 Despite our persisting *open-class-ideology, advance toward the success-goal is relatively rare..for those armed with little formal education. 1954F. C. Avis Boxing Reference Dict. 79 Open class contest, an amateur contest consisting of four 3-minute rounds, with 1-minute intervals. 1974Times 26 Oct. 12/3 P & O..the last [line] to operate two-class cruises, decided..to..revert to ‘open-class’ cruising.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Open-crib timbering, shaft timbering with cribs alone, placed at intervals.
1886Harper's Mag. June 18/2 In vessels of this class it is usual to have an *open-deck battery.
1906‘H. McHugh’ Skiddoo! v. 75 The Human Hog was invented long before the *open-face street car began to stop for him. 1931Amer. Speech VII. 51 Custard [in lumberjack lingo] is ‘open face pie’. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §91/27 Open-face pie, pie without an upper crust. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 13 Mar. 22/7 The proposed serving of ‘open-face’ pies and sandwiches.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 595/2 *Open-frame girder, a girder consisting of upper and lower booms connected at intervals by (usually) vertical members, and not braced by any diagonal members. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 477/2 Tilt covered open-frame containers are available.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Open-sand Molding, heavy beams, foundations, and bed-plates are sometimes molded in the floor of the foundry, without any cope or top part.
1910Installation News Jan. 4/1 The much abused *open-seam conduit and the socket joint conduit. 1968E. McCourt Saskatchewan iii. 36 The most fascinating by-products of open-seam mining are the miniature mountain ranges formed of the clay stripped away to expose the coal seams.
1899Westm. Gaz. 10 Nov. 4/2 An *open-view balcony with balustrades in the roof.
1871T. Cargill Strains Bridge Girders 63 The lattice, or *open web girder.
b. Parasynthetic combinations in -ed (unlimited in number); such are, open-armed, open-bladed, open-chested, open-collared, open-countenanced, open-flowered, open-fronted, open-grained, open-housed (hence open-housedness), open-jointed, open-kneed, open-lined, open patterned, open-roofed, open-sided, open-sleeved, open-spaced, open-spoken, open-throated, open-topped, open-windowed (hence open-windowedness).
1862T. C. Grattan Beaten Paths II. 309 The two Sicilies only waited *open-armed for their deliverer.
c1890W. H. Casmey Ventilation 7 The *open-bladed fan is useful in moving large volumes of free air.
1828Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 159 He was broad-shouldered and *open-chested.
1945Dylan Thomas Let. 30 July (1966) 277 Such lovely ladies and gentlemen.., *open-collared and wild-haired in the photographers' wind. 1966R. Ellmann Lett. of J. Joyce II. p. liii, The open-collared eloquence of D. H. Lawrence.
1890Boldrewood Miner's Right xxxiv. (1899) 146/2 A respectably-dressed, *open-countenanced miner.
1874Lubbock Wild Flowers iii. 68 An interesting series commencing with *open-flowered species.
1796Pearson in Phil. Trans. LXXXVI. 448 Its fractured..surface was *open-grained, and crystallized.
1804A. Seward Mem. Darwin 6 *Open-housed hospitality.
1874Thearle Naval Archit. 22 When they are *open-jointed, the timbers are kept in their correct relative position by placing blocks of the required thickness between the two tiers composing the frame. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 36 So porous and open-jointed are some of the rocks of this series.
1719De Foe Crusoe i. iv, My breeches..were only linen, and *open-knee'd.
1845Athenæum 11 Jan. 42 *Open-lined engravings like Albert Durer's.
1647A. Ross Mystag. Poet. ix. (1675) 219 Juno's temple was *open-roofed.
1714Lond. Gaz. No. 5248/3 A Person in an *Open-Sleev'd Gown.
1863S. L. J. Life in South II. ii. 49 A plain *open-spoken body.
1891‘L. Malet’ Wages of Sin II. iv. iii. 81 The north wind blew piercing, strong and tonic... Colthurst drank it down *open-throated. 1962K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed 111 A loud, open-throated sports⁓shirt.
1904Westm. Gaz. 9 Dec. 7/2 The sight should be adjustable with *open-topped hood. 1964W. L. Goodman Hist. Woodworking Tools 93 It is in effect an open-topped steel box.
1859G. A. Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 8 Shops wide open, staringly open,..yawning with a jolly ha! ha! of *open-windowedness on the bye-strollers.
c. Special combs.: open access, a system whereby users of a library have direct access to the bookshelves; also attrib.; open admission U.S. = open enrolment; open-and-shut a. (orig. U.S.), (a) simple, straightforward; esp. of a legal case in which there is no doubt as to the outcome; (b) of weather: characterized by alternating sunny and cloudy conditions; hence as n., (a) a simple or straightforward operation, case, etc.; also in phr. as (or like) open and shut: easily, straightforwardly; (b) alternately sunny and cloudy conditions; open back (see quot. 1923); † open-bellied a., ruptured; open bite Dentistry, lack of occlusion of the front teeth when the jaw is normally closed; Open Board U.S., an association formed in cities of the U.S. to transact dealings in options on a small scale not permitted by the local board of trade; Open Brethren, a branch of the Plymouth Brethren which does not practise extreme separatism; open-cast, -cut, in Mining, an open working; also, a method of mining coal, ore, etc., by removing surface layers and working from above, not from shafts; hence as adj., of, pertaining to, or designating this method of mining; also quasi-advb.; open-casting, open-cast mining; open chain Chem. (see chain n. 5 g); freq. attrib.; open cheque, (a) an uncrossed cheque (see cross v. 7 c); (b) a cheque for an unstated amount; also fig.; open circuit, a circuit, esp. an electric circuit, that is incomplete; freq. attrib.; applied to breathing apparatus in which air is exhaled into the atmosphere and so lost; hence open-circuited a., consisting of or containing an open circuit; (as a back-formation) open circuit v. trans.; open city, an undefended city; spec. a city declared to be unfortified and undefended, and hence, under international law, exempt from enemy bombardment; open classroom, a classroom in which instruction is informal, individual, and free-ranging; open community Ecology, an area in which the plant cover is not dense; open compound Linguistics, a compound in which there is a space (i.e. no hyphen) between the component elements; open cover, marine insurance that covers all the shipments made by a person or firm without specification in advance of the details of each shipment; open credit Finance, a credit free from restrictions; open cycle, a cycle of operations in which a working fluid, coolant, etc., is used only once (cf. closed cycle); open day, a day when a place, e.g. a school, which is normally closed to the public is made accessible to visitors (in quot. 1892, a day kept as a holiday at Durham University); open end a. = open-ended adj.; spec. (a) of an investment trust (see quot. 1940); (b) Spinning (see quot. 1975); open-ended a., having an open end; freq. fig., having no predetermined limit or boundary as to time, extent, size, etc.; spec. of a question or test: to which the respondent frames his own answer, as opp. to selecting one or two or more pre-phrased answers; hence open-endedness; open enrolment U.S., the unrestricted enrolment of students at schools, colleges, etc., of their choice; open-faced a., having a frank or ingenuous face; † also, having the face uncovered; also of a sandwich, pie, etc.: without an upper layer of bread or pastry; hence openfacedness; open floor (see quot. 1932); † open-founded a., based on plain or obvious facts; open-front (see quot.); open go Austral. colloq., an unimpeded opportunity; a ‘fair go’ (see go n.1 4 d); open-hearth, a hearth of the reverberatory type: see hearth1 3; also attrib.; open housing U.S., property that can be rented or bought without restriction on racial grounds; also attrib.; open jet, a stream of air in a wind-tunnel which is not bounded by rigid walls in the working section; open juncture Linguistics, the type of juncture (sense 2 c) found at word boundaries or marked syllable division within the word; open learning Educ., any system of learning which is based on independent study or initiative rather than formal classroom instruction; spec. = distance learning s.v. distance n. 12; open line, (a) a telephone line on which conversations can be overheard or intercepted by others; (b) used attrib. to denote a radio or television programme in which the public can participate by telephone; open loop, a control loop (loop n.1 4 l) without feedback, each operation or activity being affected only by those earlier in the sequence; open market, a market in which any buyer or seller may trade freely and where prices are determined by supply and demand; also attrib.; open marriage, a marriage in which partners are by agreement free to have sexual relations with persons other than each other; open-minded a., having an open mind, accessible to new arguments or ideas, hence open-mindedness; open-mindedly adv., in an open-minded manner; open-neck, a collar of a kind that leaves the neck unrestricted; spec. as adj., of a shirt, that is worn with the collar unbuttoned, without a tie; also fig.; hence open-necked a.; open occupancy U.S., occupancy of housing available to persons of any race; open-pit a. chiefly N. Amer. = open-cast adj.; open plan, an architectural style allowing for no (or few) internal walls or partitions within a building, esp. an office or a school; freq. attrib.; hence open-planned a., open-planning; open question, a matter on which differences of opinion are legitimate; open range, (a) N. Amer., a range or tract of land that is not intersected with fences; also attrib.; (b) used attrib. or as adj. = free range (b) s.v. free a. D. 2; also fig.; open-reel a., employing or having tape reels of such a kind that they and the tape they carry are accessible (in contrast to cassettes and cartridges); open road, (a) U.S., a road that is not private; (b) a country road or a main road outside urban areas; (somewhat sentimentally) a road or route along which one can travel without care or hindrance; also attrib.; open roof (see quot. 1932); open sandwich, a sandwich without a top slice of bread; open score Mus. (see quot. 1899); open season, the season when hunting or fishing is allowed; also transf. and fig., a time when something, esp. criticism, is unrestricted; open shed N.Z. (see quots.); open shelf, a bookshelf that is not enclosed behind a door or the like; in a library: one of any number of shelves from which the readers can take books themselves; freq. attrib. or as adj.; open-side, in Rugby Football, the side of the scrum on which the main line of the backs is ranged; opp. blind side (blind a. and adv. 2 c); also attrib.; open skies, used, chiefly attrib., to designate a system whereby aircraft of any nation are allowed to fly over a particular territory; spec. of a system whereby two or more nations permit surveillance of one another from the air; also open sky; open society, a society characterized by its flexible structure and beliefs; one having much contact with other peoples or tolerant of change or of diversity in its existing order and traditions; opp. closed society (closed ppl. a. 3); open stage (see quots.); also attrib.; open-step n. used attrib., of the sight of a gun, arranged with parallel bars after the fashion of a ladder; open-stitch, Sc. open-steek, a style of openwork stitching; also attrib.; open-stock (N. Amer.), goods that are always kept in stock by a shop, etc.; esp. a crockery set for which items can be bought separately at any time; also attrib.; open subroutine Computers, a routine that is written, in full, directly into a program wherever it occurs; open system, a material system in which the total mass or energy fluctuates; an incomplete or alterable system (of ideas, doctrines, things, etc.); open texture Philos. (see quots.); hence open-textured a.; open-texturedness; open toe(d) a., designating a shoe that is open at the front to reveal the toes; open-top a., having an open top; also as n. (U.S. colloq.), a vehicle, trailer, or the like with an open top; hence open-topped a.; open town, (a) U.S., a town characterized by a lack of restrictions on drinking and gambling places and the like; (b) = open city; open tread a., of a staircase: having no risers; open university, a university having few if any restrictions on admission, spec. (with capital initials) a university founded in Great Britain in 1969 to provide courses for adult working people based on correspondence and radio and television broadcasts; also fig.; open vegetation = open community; † open-visaged a. = open-faced; open ward, a hospital ward designed to accommodate several patients; also attrib.; open water (chiefly Canad.), the melting of the ice on rivers and lakes in spring, or the time when this happens or has occurred; a stretch of water in which there is little or no ice; open window unit Acoustics (see quot. 19681); open wood, woodland (see quot. 1889); open woods N. Amer., a patch of woodland in which there is no undergrowth; cf. opening vbl. n. 3.
1894Library VI. 344 There is absolutely no novelty about the principle of *open-access. 1899(title) Account of the safe-guarded open-access system in public lending libraries. 1934Archit. Rev. LXXVI. 168/1 The new library has one important feature that distinguishes it from most large libraries in this country and elsewhere; I refer to the system of ‘open access’. a1956A. Esdaile in D. Lodge Brit. Mus. is falling Down (1965) vi. 96 Free or open access can hardly be practised in so large a library as this. 1977Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Dec. 1532/2 The long-standing fight about open access..is won now... Behind lay a deep-seated fear..in some librarians..of anyone from the outside world actually having the run of the shelves.
1969Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 20 Dec. 54/1 (heading) The challenge of *open admissions. Will Everyman destroy the university? 1970Time 28 Sept. 36 Under its new ‘open admissions’ policy, CUNY [sc. the City University of New York] was taking such students despite their academic shortcomings. 1973E. Taylor Serpent under It (1974) xii. 176 The kinds of things that stir them [sc. students] up these days are parietal hours and open admissions and black studies. 1976Times 13 Jan. 7/4 There were three basic principles at [New York's] City University: quality education, free tuition and open admission. 1977Time 28 Mar. 13/2 The country's enduring recession and unlimited open-admissions policies have turned Italian universities into what students call ‘unemployment factories’ or ‘jobless parking lots’.
1841Picayune (New Orleans) 11 Mar. 2/3 The contest between Humming Bird and Maria Collier was considered all but a ‘dead *open and shut game’. 1848G. P. Burnham in F. A. Durivage Stray Subjects 128 That chap's snoring beat all the high-pressures he ever heerd—jest as easy as open and shet! 1890Dialect Notes I. 19 The common New England maxim is ‘Open and shet's a sign of wet’. 1893Harper's Mag. May 975/2 The case was a dead open-and-shut one. 1904W. H. Smith Promoters x. 162 It seems as if it was a dead open and shut that we've got to stay with 'em. 1930Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 262 Like broken water, with the sun tipping it. Like Portland Race in open-and-shut weather. 1936M. Allingham Flowers for Judge ix. 139 They [sc. the police] feel they've got an open-and-shut case. 1966T. H. Raddall Hangman's Beach iii. xv. 230 It was what fishermen call an open-and-shut day, with patches of black cloud, and occasional showers of rain. 1971‘D. Shannon’ Ringer (1972) ix. 163 This was such an open-and-shut thing. 1974A. Morice Death of Heavenly Twin xiii. 138 What's the hurry if it's as open and shut as you make out? 1975‘E. Lathen’ By Hook or by Crook iii. 28 It's an open-and-shut case. There's no doubt. 1976Encounter June 12/2 ‘No sweat, Mr Dennie,’ said the police chief... ‘It's an open and shut. The lady must have fell asleep smoking a cigarette.’
1923H. A. Maddox Dict. Stationery 56 *Open back, a bookbinding term alternatively described as hollow back, spring back, or extra... Letter⁓press books are either ‘fast back’ (in which case the leather is pasted directly on the folded sections) or ‘open back’ (in which case the book has a false back or is actually cased). 1961Open back [see loose back s.v. loose a. 9].
1598Florio, Gualloroso, burst, *open bellied.
1893Smale & Colyer Dis. & Injuries Teeth ii. 14 Lack of anterior occlusion, or *open bite may be caused in several ways—by thumb, finger, lip or tongue sucking [etc.]. 1975W. J. B. Houston Orthodontic Diagnosis iv. 36 A skeletal open bite can not be satisfactorily treated by attempting to extrude the anterior teeth which have already grown as much as possible. Nor should posterior teeth be ground or extracted.
1870J. K. Medbery Men & Mysteries Wall St. 16 The consolidation of the Government and the *Open Boards with the old historic Stock Exchange. 1902G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant ix. 113 If she is the daughter of old Job Dashkam, on the open Board, I should say..that she was a fine girl to let some other fellow marry.
1879A. Miller Brethren v. 66 The new motto on the standard of the *Open Brethren was, ‘The blood of the Lamb is the union of the saints’. 1883J. S. Teulon Hist. & Teaching of Plymouth Brethren ii. 18 Henceforth the Brethren parted into two hostile camps. The followers of Messrs. Müller and Craik, under the name of Open Brethren, adhered to the principles which had animated the movement in its earliest days. 1909Encycl. Relig. & Ethics II. 845/2 The ‘Open’ Brethren..fraternize freely with other Christians. 1968F. R. Coad Hist. Brethren Movement x. 159 Those who refused to apply his decree against Bethesda... Commonly called ‘Open Brethren’, but in this book referred to hereafter by the more accurate name of independent Brethren.
1713in Sc. Nat. Dict. (1965) VI. 487/3, 33½ fadoms wrought of closs Mynding besyds what is wrought of a flagged Mynd, and *oppen cast. 1789J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. ii. 272 This open-cast has been worked to a great length upon the bearing and the old works now exhibit a horrid and frightful gulph of great length. 1802J. Mawe Mineral. of Derbyshire 207 Opencast, when a vein is worked open from the day. 1811[see open-work 2]. 1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 37 Opencast, a cutting in stone, coal, &c., at the top or bottom of an excavation already made, and open to that place. 1903Copper Handbk. III. 260 Veins are stripped and worked open-cast. 1944Times 8 Apr. 2/4 The movement of opencast coal has been increased by 80,000 tons a week. 1955Times 27 May 19/1 We are in process of pumping the water out of this opencast. Ibid. 1 July 17/3 Your company has taken a leading part in the operations of opencast mining and has dug, during the year under review, over a quarter of a million tons of coal. 1974Country Life 14 Feb. 284/2 Development and exploitation, ranging from housing estates to open-cast mining.
1886J. Barrowman Gloss. Scotch Mining Terms 48 *Open-casting, holing above the seam: working as a quarry. 1976Ilkeston Advertiser 10 Dec. 11/1 Mr Alex Eadie, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy, praised the council for its ‘exceptional foresight’ by co-operating with the Coal Board in planning and restoring land after opencasting.
1884M. M. P. Muir Treat Princ. Chem. ii. 164 In an *open chain molecule the action does not return to the carbon atom at which it started. 1928[see chain n. 5 g]. 1968O. R. C. Norman Princ. Org. Synthesis i. 23 Organic reactions frequently lead to the formation of cyclic compounds from open-chain (alicyclic) compounds.
1882R. Bithell Counting-House Dict. 212 *Open cheque, an uncrossed cheque, payable to Bearer or to Order on presentation. 1977J. Wainwright Nest of Rats i. iii. 17 ‘I'll pay... Just name it.’.. ‘An open cheque. That makes it very big.’
1827J. Cumming Man. Electro. Dynamics iv. 164 In all cases of continued rotation, one of the conductors forms an *open circuit. 1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy iv. 105 Where many intermediate stations are fixed on one wire worked on the Morse principle, the closed circuit system offers considerable advantages over the open circuit system. 1893S. R. Bottone How to manage Dynamo 42 This line of conductors is said to form an open circuit when there is any gap in the way; and then no current can flow. 1904Electrician 13 May 139/2 If the field winding on one of the limbs of a Manchester-type dynamo is open-circuited, this limb will magnetically short-circuit the remaining limb. 1907J. Erskine-Murray Handbk. Wireless Telegr. 5 Modern wireless telegraphy is, in general, open circuit telegraphy. 1927A. E. Claxton Performance & Design D.C. Machines xii. 269 An open-circuited coil prevents the passage of current in its circuit. 1939Jrnl. Exper. Zool. LXXXII. 420 The method employed for measuring the rate of metabolism was an open-circuit respiration system modified from the system originally developed by Haldane. 1953[see closed circuit s.v. closed ppl. a. 3]. 1954Induction Motor (Brook Motors Ltd.) xii. 184 If one phase is open-circuited, the motor will make a humming noise when switched on. 1956C. Evans Kanchenjunga ix. 92, I planned that every European going above Camp 3 should..climb with an open-circuit oxygen set. 1957Practical Wireless XXXIII. 539/1 The input resistance with open-circuited output, and output resistance with short-circuited input, remain the same. 1962J. P. Gregory in G A. T. Burdett Automatic Control Handbk. ii. 7 The timing of the relay is brought about by delaying the decay of the flux in its magnetic circuit after switching off the supply to the coil, either by short-circuiting or open circuiting it. 1977G. V. Higgins Dreamland vi. 59 If I don't touch an open circuit..it'll be a cave-in, or a blast.
1914Duchess of Sutherland Six Weeks at the War p. xii, Unfortunately Namur is not an *open city so she suffered for a short time from horrors worse than ‘moral effect’. 1938Newsweek 4 July 9/3 A pact restricting bombing of ‘open’ cities. 1944Ann. Reg. 1943 57 The Government had been urged in Parliament to treat Rome as an open city. 1965H. Kahn On Escalation ix. 178 Military disengagement on the open-city model.
1971N.Y. Times 8 June 39 An *open classroom means nothing to me unless it means that a child learns in that classroom that learning is not dependent at every level on the presence of a teacher. 1973Britannica Bk. of Year 1972 732/3 Open classroom, a system of education in which activities involving multidisciplinary skills replace traditional subject courses.
[1909Groom & Balfour tr. Warming's Oecol. Plants xxxv. 137 In some communities the soil is densely covered,..but in others the vegetable covering is so open that the colour of the soil imparts to the landscape its hue.] 1923A. G. Tansley Pract. Plant Ecol. ix. 126 We get an *open community in stable equilibrium with its habitat. 1929Weaver & Clements Plant Ecol. vii. 142 Open communities are invaded readily. 1975O. Rackham Hayley Wood: Hist. & Ecol. iii. 124 It is an open community: these plants do not form a carpet, and there is plenty of bare ground.
1961Webster, *Open compound. 1965Amer. Speech XL. 41 An enterable open compound like threshing machine.
1884D. Owen Marine Insurance (ed. 2) 56 (heading) Agreement to execute policies. (Off *open cover.) 1895W. Gow Marine Insurance xiv. 229 In every case with which the writer is acquainted the open cover is a mere document of honour. 1928F. W. S. Poole Marine Insurance of Goods iv. 59 Open covers provide the merchant with continuous protection, enabling him to calculate the insurance charges for shipments ahead. 1960Times 24 Oct. (Finance. Rev.) p. xiii/2 It was to meet this convenience that the ‘open cover’ type of policy was developed.
1903Pitman's Business Man's Guide 326 *Open credit. This is the name given to a letter of credit which contains an unconditional request to pay money to another person. 1920J. Stephenson Princ. & Pract. Commerc. Corr. iii. iv. 186, I..now beg to inquire whether you would be inclined to open an Account Current with me, granting me an open credit of {pstlg}875.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Open cut , a surface-working, open to daylight.
1950Nucleonics Mar. 47/1 The *open cycle system is generally practical only with a plentiful and inexpensive coolant like air or water, except in the case of a rocket drive. 1957Gloss. Terms Nuclear Sci. (Nat. Res. Council, U.S.) 114 Open cycle, cycle of operation of a heat engine in which the power fluid is used only once... Also applicable to a cooling system in which the coolant is used once and then discarded. 1958M. J. Zucrow Aircraft & Missile Propulsion II. vi. 13 An open-cycle power plant is a continuous-flow prime mover using atmospheric air as the working fluid. 1971M. M. El-Wakil Nuclear Energy Conversion vii. 200 In designing open cycles, the extent of induced radioactivity in the coolant and its effects on plant and surroundings should be carefully evaluated. 1973Kettani & Hoyaux Plasma Engin. viii. 243 In the open cycle system, fuel is burned with the oxidiser to which seed is added without preheating.
1892Durham Univ. Calendar 6 February 22..M. *Open Day. 1941H. G. Stead Mod. School Organisation xv. 261 Open Days..let parents and other interested friends have an opportunity of seeing the school in action. 1953A. K. C. Ottaway Educ. & Soc. vi. 117 Whenever ‘open days’ for visitors are possible these are appreciated by parents. 1971Guardian 23 Aug. 4/1 Tours or ‘open days’ are being held..on sites within the Roman ‘colonia’ at Lincoln. Ibid. 12 Nov. 7/3 It was like most school open days. The women questioned the staff about how the teaching would help John's or Simon's career. 1975B. Meyrick Behind the Light xi. 143 Open Days on local Trinity service vessels were an annual event.
1908Daily Chron. 13 Feb. 6/2 The *open-end garden-seated light car..might be trailed as a relief car. 1940Sun (Baltimore) 26 Apr. 23/9 Open-end trusts are those in which shares are redeemable at their asset value at any given time. 1945Webster Add., Open-end, of a contract calling for the filling by a particular contractor of all government needs for a specific product during a specified period. 1952W. J. H. Sprott Social Psychol. vi. 102 The questions..may be ‘open-end’ questions which allow of a more elaborate answer. 1953Economist 21 Feb. 500/1 An open-end trust is in all major respects similar to a flexible unit trust. It holds a portfolio of securities and cash, against which units are issued to the public, and the managers have a wide discretion in their investment policy. Ibid. 500/2 The principle of the open-end fund is sound. 1954[see closed-end s.v. closed ppl. a. 3]. 1955T. H. Pear Eng. Social Differences iii. 110 Questionnaires, ‘closed or open-end’, might lead to interviews and written personal and private communications. 1966Listener 23 June 926/1 This was what happened in the open-end discussion. 1972Guardian 21 July 16/1 There was a considerable debate in financial quarters about the wisdom of open-end funds, or unit trusts, which invest in property. 1972Sci. Amer. Dec. 55/1 Open-end spinning has been the subject of intense development during the past five years. Commercial frames of Czechoslovakian and Japanese design have recently become available. 1974Times 22 Mar. 21/1 The demand background is there and with its lead in ‘open end’ and ‘self twist’ machines Stone should be able to exploit it whilst it lasts. 1975A. J. Hall Stand. Handbk. Textiles (ed. 8) iii. 170 In an open-end spinning a sliver of, say, cotton is fed into a relatively small device..in which the fibres under air pressure are impelled by centrifugal action and an existing air vortex on to the internal surface of a high speed (up to 40000 rev/min) rotating cylinder and are therefore carried forward with their twisting together to an exit point from which they are drawn in the form of yarn having an appropriate degree of twist. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 13 Mar. 10/6 (Advt.), A managed diversified Open-end Investment Trust.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 172 The disadvantages attending the *open-ended cylinder. 1935[see hydraulic gradient s.v. hydraulic a. 1]. 1940M. Mead Male & Female ii. 47 The problem will be whether..those who read can keep such words as ‘men’, ‘women’, and ‘children’ open-ended words. 1952Newsweek 26 May 39/2 This program..is bound to fail if it is looked upon as a final step. Like the original Union of our States, it should be ‘open-ended’. 1952Sat. Even. Post 25 Oct. 150/3 Unlike the atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb is an ‘open-ended’ weapon. In theory, if you want to make it more powerful, you just shovel in more of the heavy-hydrogen mixture. 1953E. G. Williamson in Ann. Rev. Psychol. IV. 344 The open-ended interviews were concerned with the manner in which an individual was currently dealing with his problem of occupational choice. 1953K. Cobb in Ibid. 367 A study of visually handicapped school children, tested with an open-ended adjustment inventory printed in large print or Braille. 1957R. K. Merton Student-Physician 314 Questions marked with an asterisk were initially asked in open-ended form. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 401 This at least was suggested by their answers to questions in standard intelligence tests, which tended to an alarming degree to be of the closed rather than open-ended type. 1967M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour ii. 39 Questions vary in the extent to which they are open or closed—an open-ended question requires a lengthy explanation rather than a choice between alternatives; the best way to get someone to talk is to ask this kind of question. 1970D. Goldrich et al. in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. v. 177 It seemed desirable to use mainly open-ended interviewing techniques. 1973Daily Tel. 2 Mar. 2/5 Powers of punishment for contempt are open ended as no maximum prison sentence or fine is laid down.
1953W. H. McNeill Amer., Brit., & Russia i. i. 63 It was almost irresistible to look at the war-time history in the light of what had come after, to search for signs and portents of the strained situation which had prevailed since 1946 or 1947, and to forget or minimize the ‘*open-endedness’ of Allied relationships during the war years. 1973Amer. Speech 1969 XLIV. 289 The seeming ‘open-endedness’ of the set of sentences of a language presents a challenge to transformational theory. 1974G. F. Newman Price vii. 218 The open-endedness of the situation worked as well for her. She was as free as Sneed to quit.
1964N.Y. Times 12 Jan. E11/1 The New York system in 1960 inaugurated a policy of ‘*open enrollment’ which permitted youngsters from designated predominantly non-white schools to apply for transfer to designated predominantly white schools. 1970Ibid. 7 Jan. 42 The open enrollment policy for the city universities will be a mistake. 1974Florida FL Reporter XIII. 80/3 If indeed the phrase is not to become a meaningless slogan as many people regard the term ‘open enrollment’ in the City University of New York.
1610J. Guillim Heraldry vi. v. (1611) 265 This fashion of sidelong helmet and *openfaced with gardensure over the sight. 1897Daily News 31 Mar. 6/3 A typical, tall, broad-shouldered, open-faced, English gentleman. 1934Webster, Open-faced..Of pies, etc., without top crust. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 26 Apr. 6/1 A spokesman for the Case-Moody Pie Corporation..said it expected to realize a one fourth savings in flour by bringing out an ‘open-faced’ pie in which the top crust is eliminated. 1970Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Feb. 14/2 This little book tells you exactly how to make..toppings for world famous and eye-appealing Open-Faced Sandwiches. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 14 Feb. 7/2 They can be fried and covered with goodies, thus becoming a pre-Columbian open-faced sandwich.
1649H. Lawrence Some Considerations 41 As much as betweene *openfacednesse, and vailing.
1932T. Corkhill Conc. Building Encycl. 146 *Open floor, one with exposed joists, not covered by a ceiling.
1571Golding Calvin on Ps. xlix. 10 An *openfounded doctrine, that cannot escape the knowledge even of the rudest.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Open-front, the arrangement of a blast furnace with a forehearth.
1919W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 36 *Open go, see fair go. 1959H. P. Tritton Time means Tucker ii. 15/1 The sergeant said we were putting on a better show than the professionals. He said we could have an open go the following night. 1973Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Aug. 24/1 This intimidatory behavior, the company charges, contrasts with the ‘open go’ policy being afforded two other major prawning operators in the region.
1885Daily News 17 Sept. 5/7 The duel is between wrought or puddled iron and Bessemer, or its rival ‘*openhearth’ steel. 1897Times 18 Oct. 12/1 The growing importance of open hearth and the diminishing relative value of Bessemer steel. Ibid., To-day the open hearth system has completely asserted its supremacy.
1966Guardian 29 Aug. 7/2 The agreement provides for stronger enforcement of *open-housing regulations. Ibid., Labour leaders agree to support open housing. 1971N.Y. Times 1 June 28 The Suburban Citizens for Open Housing, an organization pushing for integration of the outer city. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 8 May 6/2 The Rev. James E. Groppi, the Roman Catholic priest who led open-housing marches in the '60s.
1932Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVI. 999 In a tunnel of any sort the provision of an *open jet calls for rather more power than a walled-in jet would need. 1947A. Pope Wind-Tunnel Testing ii. 34 For propeller and rotor tests..the open jet offers considerable advantage. 1971D. C. Bain et al. Wind Tunnels ii. 1/2 Open jet tunnels are mainly used for air flow observations and have the advantage of easy access to the model for modifications and an unobstructed view for observation and photography.
1941*Open juncture [see juncture 2 c]. 1942Bloch & Trager Outl. Ling. Analysis iii. 47 In a phonemic transcription, external open juncture is marked by leaving a space between symbols, internal open juncture by a hyphen. 1966[see junctural a.]. 1973D. Rockey Phonetic Lexicon 43 Spanish permits no clusters before final pause and open juncture. 1974Amer. Speech 1969 XLIV. 57 The liquids occur only immediately before open juncture.
1970R. A. Anderson in Educational Technol. June 15/2 Open-planning is merely a tool which makes the solution to an educational problem possible. Since the educational program is father to the plan, we must call these schools, then, ‘*open-learning places’. 1980Economist 21 June 47 Open learning, beamed from the Gulf to the Mediterranean, will have the great advantage of drawing the Palestinian diaspora together. 1985Times 12 Dec. 31/5 Self-study—or ‘open learning’ as it is so often called— is a proven technique in technical training.
1963‘W. Haggard’ High Wire xiv. 151 He..booked a call to London. It would be an *open line, but he didn't have access to another. 1966‘G. Black’ You want to die, Johnny? iii. 47 Perhaps I should tell you, even on an open line, that I've just had a summons, from Ministerial level. 1970New York 16 Nov. 5/2 Her over-involvement with the Renaissance Project and the Open-Line Program present an unbalanced image. 1972Gaurdian 25 Sept. 4 Open-line radio shows, during which the visitor sits in..a radio studio and answers questions in amplified telephone conversations with local people. 1973‘D. Jordan’ Nile Green xliv. 223 They had also given me an open line to London.
1947Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engin. XCIV. iia 5/3 (heading) Examples of *open-loop and closed-loop control. 1954,1962[see loop n.1 4 l]. 1966New Scientist 30 June 830 Almost all skilled muscular activities seem to exhibit many ‘open-loop’, pre-programmed characteristics. An open-loop system (one that draws little or no information from the thing it governs) can always be operated more effectively than a closed-loop one, provided that its task is well defined and not subject to major disturbances. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 306/2 Typical open-loop voltage gain is greater than 200,000.
1766Blackstone Comm. II. xxx. 449 Our Saxon ancestors prohibited the sale of any thing above the value of twenty pence, unless in *open market. 1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 627 The law of Scotland differs from that of England as to the legal effect of a sale in open market. 1870J. K. Medbery Men & Mysteries Wall St. 18 The stock which has occasioned the default is sold or bought in the open market under the rule. 1930Economist 22 Mar. 630/1 The failure of the Reserve Bank's buying rate to go down as fast as the open-market rate. 1933R. McKenna Speech Midland Bank 10 During the period of open market buying bank deposits continued to decline, though only slightly. 1934[see berry n.1 1 c]. 1961Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Mar. 26 This was a departure from its open market activities in the previous four weeks, in which the System extended these operations to securities in the medium-term range, with maturities up to ten years. 1972Times 26 Jan. 6/2 To have the said rent reviewed at the said time by reference to the open market rental value of the demised premises.
1972N. & G. O'Neill (title) *Open marriage. Ibid. 9 We began to synthesize and delineate those qualities and conditions that seemed most necessary for growth for a man and woman living together in today's world. In writing a preliminary draft on the subject in 1968, we defined such a relationship as open marriage. 1975M. Bradbury History Man iii. 52 It is an adult, open marriage. They are both having affairs. 1985J. Epstein in D. J. Enright Fair of Speech 60 Stripped of its psychological sham, an open marriage is one in which the partners in a conventional marriage have agreed to give way to the need to copulate with anyone else who will agree to copulate with them.
1828Carlyle in Foreign Rev. II. 115 To *open-minded, truth-seeking men, the deliberate words of an open-minded, truth-seeking man can in no case be wholly unintelligible. 1861T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. xii. 223 In fact, he is a wonderfully open-minded man for his age, if you only put things to him the right way. 1903G. B. Shaw Let. 6 Mar. (1972) II. 316 You can't feel at home with anything that is strange, no matter how open-minded you may be. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 31/3 CN will be open-minded about participating. 1976P. Donovan Relig. Lang. iv. 43 The words..would appear to have little relevance to testing which stems from belief and faith, or even from openminded enquiry.
1909H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay ii. iv. 230 ‘Your aunt makes Game of people,’ was Marion's verdict, and, *open-mindedly; ‘I suppose it's all right..for her.’
1832Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. V. 386/1 Boswell wrote a good Book.. because of his free insight, his lively talent, above all, of his Love and childlike *Open-mindedness. 1865Masson Rec. Brit. Philos. 9 An open-mindedness that should even solicit contrary impressions. 1914Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. LXXXIX. 184 Whilst he could not but admire the authors' eloquence and open-mindedness, he certainly considered that they had not proved the theory which they had set out to expound. 1972Science 16 June 1209/2 Much conventional scientific training..tends to produce rigidity and avoidance of personal involvement with subject matter, rather than open-mindedness and flexibility.
1939–40Army & Navy Stores Catal. 656/3 All-Wool Sweaters... V-shape *open neck, plain or cable stitch. 1949Penguin New Writing XXXVIII. 14 The sleeves of his open-neck shirt were rolled up. 1971D. Bagley Freedom Trap vii. 152 She looked too damned fetching in stretch pants, open-neck shirt and short jacket. 1976Daily Mirror 16 July 13/1 An elaborately casual outfit of trousers and jacket, in man-made fibre and worn with an open-neck shirt.
1959E. H. Clements High Tension v. 83 His step-cousin's [neck] rose, long and boyish-looking, from an *open-necked shirt. 1973P. Moyes Curious Affair of Third Dog iii. 32 A slim, fair-haired girl in corduroy trousers and an open-necked shirt. 1975N. Luard Robespierre Serial xv. 131 The burly men in open-necked shirts. 1976Listener 10 June 751/1 Australia?.. A free-and-easy, no-nonsense, open-necked continent.
1953Open Occupancy in Public Housing (U.S. Housing & Home Finance Agency) i. 3/1 When a shifting is made from a policy of enforced segregation to one of *open occupancy, clear-cut policy..is found to be mandatory. 1966Economist 28 May 962/2 The landlords' association, which Core blames in part for the persistent refusal of the City Council to pass an open-occupancy law. 1968M. Harrington Toward Democratic Left x. 289 And study after study documents a correlation between high educational attainment and libertarian views on civil liberties, capital punishment, open occupancy—and the war in Vietnam.
1913Amer. Year Bk. 1912 421/2 The eight-hour day in Arizona..has been extended to all open-cut workings and *open-pit workings. 1959Times 12 June 17/4 It [sc. British capital] has pioneered in the new technique of open-pit borate mining. 1971Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 19 Feb. 11/3 H. M. Wright..says open-pit mines in British Columbia are ‘a beautiful sight’. 1975New Yorker 3 Mar. 74/2 Copper was hardly worth taking out of the ground, and times were hard in Bisbee. In 1951, Phelps Dodge began a new open-pit mine—the Lavender Pit.
1938Archit. Rev. LXXXIII. 90/2 The *open plan is almost universal but perhaps less easy to work than it looks. 1954Ibid. CXV. 213 A few are more experimental, influenced either by the pre-war work of Arne Jacobsen and Mogens Lassen or, more recently, by the open-plan American house. 1960M. Spark Ballad of Peckham Rye iii. 38 We used to have an open-plan... So that you could see everyone in the office without the glass. 1973‘R. MacLeod’ Burial in Portugal ii. 41 An open-plan stairway curved..towards the upper floor. 1975in Cox & Boyson Black Paper 1975 30/2 The education hierarchy..doubt the wisdom of having an open-plan school in a difficult area. Ibid. 31/1 For children from a less fortunate environment open plan is disaster.
1958Washington Post 16 Aug. B 10/1 *Open-planned kitchens have been described by designers as ‘one of the most desirable areas in the home’. 1960Guardian 24 Feb. 12/5 Comparatively few people have really lived in modern, open-planned houses. 1976Ilkeston Advertiser 10 Dec. 12/5 (Advt.), Front shop (ideal lounge), open-planned living kitchen.
1958Washington Post 16 Aug. B 10/1 The welcome theme of this architect-designed House of The Week is ‘*open planning’. 1958Listener 25 Sept. 459/1 The trend towards open planning favours development of this method.
1859Masson Milton I. 630 The summary decision of what had hitherto been an *open question in the Church. 1863Cox Instit. i. x. 255 Certain questions brought before Parliament are treated as ‘open’ questions; that is, questions on which Ministers in Parliament are allowed to take opposite sides without resigning. 1972Guardian 2 Feb. 7/4 A sixth-form general studies unit..was designed to promote discussion of ‘open’ questions, to which there may be no known or agreed answers. 1976Howard Jrnl. XV. i. 17 What brought about this change is an open question.
1890Stock Grower & Farmer 15 Mar. 6/3 The cow men of the *open ranges will make money. 1905Bull. Bureau of Forestry (U.S. Dept. Agric.) No. 62, 9 The great bulk of the western stockmen are definitely in favor of the Government control of the open range. Ibid. 52 Under the open-range system the honest and law-abiding cattleman was at a great disadvantage. 1958Spectator 11 July 60/1 Occasionally they [sc. the chickens] have been a little flavourless, probably because these were not open-range birds. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Nov. 639/1 After the..novels laid by American and western European novelists in their batteries or deep litter, it is pleasant to discover a Greek novel as tasty as an open range egg. 1962W. Stegner Wolf Willow (1963) ii. ii. 45 Last survival of the open-range cattle industry, booby prize in a belated homestead rush, this country saved each stage of the Plains frontier long past its appointed time.
1970High Fidelity Nov. 77/1 Here we encounter what may well be a very significant parting of the ways between cassettes and open-reel tapes. 1971Gramophone Dec. 1125/1 An 8-track cartridge machine capable of recording and reproducing and a sophisticated recorder covering open-reel, cassette and cartridge recording and reproducing. 1977Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 6/1 (Advt.), A cassette, unlike its open-reel counterpart, actually becomes an integral part of your system the instant you put it in your cassette deck.
1817E. P. Fordham Jrnl. 31 July in Pers. Narr. Trav. (1906) vi. 100 This state [sc. Indiana] is one vast forest, intersected by a few Blaze roads and two or three *open roads. 1856W. Whitman Leaves of Grass (ed. 2) 223 Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road! 1920E. O'Neill Beyond Horizon iii. ii. 162 So I thought I'd try to end as I might have—if I'd had the courage to live my dream. Alone—in a ditch by the open road—watching the sun rise. a1930D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 220 Some of these sonnets are very fine: they stand apart in an age of ‘open road’ and Empire thumping verse. 1968L. Deighton Only when I Larf i. 16 I'm for the open road, the jet routes, Cannes, Nice, Monte; where the pickings are rich and the living is easy. 1975Country Life 16 Oct. 1007/1 Open-road motoring is inhibited by ever-lower speed limits. 1976Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 2 Nov. 15/2 Yet on the open road a new virtue is revealed, and the VX becomes an admirable companion for covering long distance in comfort.
1932T. Corkhill Conc. Building Encycl. 146 *Open roof, one in which the principals are on view. No ceiling.
1946Sun (Baltimore) 13 Aug. 2/8 Some lunch counters were serving ‘the *open sandwich’, a single slice affair. 1959Listener 15 Jan. 136/2 The simplest open sandwich or even everyday platter of roast meat. 1973D. Bagley Tightrope Men xxv. 172 The open sandwiches of Scandinavia.
1899Bridge & Sawyer Course Harmony ii. 8 There are two methods of writing harmony—viz., in *open score and short score. In open score each voice is written on a separate staff. 1979Early Music Oct. 531/1 The..music examples..are offered in open score to avoid the congestion inevitable with reduction to short score.
1896Outing Sept. 596/2 The first day of September marks the beginning of the *open season on pheasants, grouse, and quail in Oregon. 1914‘High Jinks, Jr.’ Choice Slang 16 Open season, time when a person may expect no mercy or protection. 1918[see bee1 5 b]. 1948Chesterton (Indiana) Tribune 28 Oct. 6/4 A brief open season on pheasants will enhance this autumn's pleasure for Hoosier sportsmen. 1958Listener 18 Sept. 416/1 The open season for tropical storms is declared in the last week in August. 1969‘J. Morris’ Fever Grass i. 10 He remembered those thirty years, before the island became independent and open season on its security tacitly declared. 1974Times 18 Feb. 14/7 Any appearance of open season for pay could spark off an explosion. 1977D. Anthony Stud Game xxviii. 189 It happened to be a year the state allowed open season on does, to thin out the herd.
1872M. A. Barker in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 37 Brown and Wetherby's was an ‘*open shed’, where any shearers that came were taken on until there were hands enough. a1948L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs (1951) vii. 169 Clayton was an ‘open shed’, that is, the shearers were not engaged beforehand, but turned up and took their chance of a pen on the advertised starting day.
1821M. Edgeworth Let. 12 Dec. (1971) 290 They live in the library—*open shelves—mixture of half bound and bound books. 1897Library Jrnl. Jan. 44/1 The adoption of the open-shelf system. 1910A. E. Bostwick Amer. Publ. Library 38 Practically all small and moderate sized American libraries are now ‘open-shelf’, which means that the user is allowed to go personally to the shelves and select his book.
1906Gallaher & Stead Compl. Rugby Footballer xi. 145 (heading) Tactics—combined attack on the *open side. 1960E. S. & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby vii. 71 Break to the openside and close to the scrum if the openside flank is going straight for your fly-half.
1945Richmond (Virginia) Times Dispatch 10 Feb. 12 (heading) U.S. accepts agreements on aviation pact. Will exchange ‘*open skies’ rights. Ibid., Today's action confirmed the position taken by the United States delegation in favor of ‘open skies’ or virtually unlimited freedom of the air. 1956Friends Jrnl. 18 Feb. 103/2 The United States position is that until the scientists have solved the problem of detecting stocks, priority should be given to the Eisenhower ‘open skies’ plan and other measures designed to create confidence rather than to affect disarmament. 1957Daily Mail 7 Oct. 6/2 The day when the Communists gave an ironic answer to President Eisenhower's plea for ‘Open Skies’—by creating just that. 1965D. D. Eisenhower White House Yrs. (1966) II. v. xx. 470 The Open Skies proposal was criticized by the Soviets because, they said, it covered only the territories of our two homelands and would fail to cover territory where United States forces were stationed overseas. 1973Times 31 Jan. (Mediterranean Suppl.) p. iv/3 To attain their ambitious targets the Greek authorities proclaimed an ‘open skies’ policy for charter flights.
1944Sun (Baltimore) 30 Nov. 7/2 The British apparently now have the choice of going along with the ‘*open sky’ program or facing the development of a large bloc of nations which want something along the lines of the United States. 1955Ibid. 11 Nov. 1/7 Vyacheslav M. Molotov buried President Eisenhower's ‘open-sky’ plan for disarmament under a five-point indictment here tonight.
1935R. Audra et al. tr. Bergson's Two Sources Morality & Relig. iv. 230 Never shall we pass from the closed society to the *open society, from the city to humanity, by any mere broadening out. 1940Mind XLIX. 116 Bergson's distinction of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ societies, when applied to the society of all mankind, leads to the conclusion that this all-inclusive society will be ‘quantitatively closed’. 1945K. Popper (title) The open society and its enemies. 1954P. Mason Ess. Racial Tension xvii. 119 The painful transition from a society based on status to an open society in which contract and competition play a part. 1973Listener 17 May 635/1 Mill's..overriding goal of maintaining an open society..in which might be realised..the flowering of human individuality in all its diversity.
1953R. Southern Open Stage 41 The name ‘*open stage’ cannot be given merely on the grounds of there being a platform free on three sides... Those three sides must be occupied by audience. 1960Times 15 July 16/4 A cynic might regard the crude..Riviera settings as a powerful argument in favour of open-stage methods. 1962Listener 8 Nov. 771/3 It is I think now widely accepted that the term ‘open stage’ is conveniently used to include not only the three-sided open stage of which Dr Southern was primarily writing in his book, but all forms of theatre where the acting area is in the same room as the audience.
1818Scott Rob Roy xix, Nane o' yere..*opensteek hems about it.
1884Harper's Mag. Aug. 365/1 The ordinary *open-step sight attached to the barrel.
1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 681 Decorated dinner-ware. Patterns sold in *open stock. 1911Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 23 Apr. 4/4 We are in receipt of the latest open stock pattern in Limoges China... You can always replace a broken piece at any time. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. 13/1 (Advt.), 30% off makers' suggested retail prices on open stock dinnerware patterns. 1976Columbus (Montana) News (Joliet Suppl.) 17 June 2/4 ‘Open stock’ is the term for piece-by-piece sales instead of sales by the place setting category. The theory behind open stock sales is that you can buy just the pieces you need as you wish them, and you can replace items as you need.
1951M. V. Wilkes et al. Preparation of Programs for Electronic Digital Computer 22 The simplest form of subroutine consists of a sequence of orders which can be incorporated as it stands in a program... This type of subroutine is called an ‘*open’ subroutine. 1958[see inline a. 3 a]. 1969P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 353 Typically, an open subroutine will convert floating-point numbers to fixed-point numbers or fixed-point to floating-point (four to six instructions), find the next larger integer value, or find the absolute magnitude. The advantages of open subroutine [sic] consist of simple usage.., faster execution, and if used sparingly, conservation of memory.
1939F. H. MacDougall Thermodynamics & Chem. (ed. 3) x. 134 When a transfer of matter to or from a system is also possible, the system may be called an *open system. 1962P. Strevens Papers in Lang. (1965) xii. 152 The study of closed-system items is what we conventionally call ‘grammar’, while the open systems constitute ‘lexis’. 1963A. K. Rice Enterprise & its Environment iv. xx. 184 Open systems exist and can only exist by the exchange of materials with their environment... An open system can achieve a time-independent steady state. 1971J. Z. Young Introd. Study Man ii. 26 Organisms are not stable systems..but ‘open’ systems maintained in a steady state by continual expenditure of energy.
1945F. Waismann in Aristotelian Soc. Suppl. Vol. XIX. 121 The failure of the phenomenalist to translate a material object statement into terms of sense data..is due to..the ‘*open texture’ of most of our empirical concepts... I owe this term to Mr. [W. C.] Kneale who suggested it to me as a translation of Porosität der Begriffe, a term coined by me in German. Ibid. 123 It is not possible to define a concept like gold with absolute precision, i.e. in such a way that every nook and cranny is blocked against entry of doubt. That is what is meant by the open texture of a concept. 1956J. Holloway in A. Pryce-Jones New Outl. Mod. Knowl. 35 Waismann's term for this pervasive quality of language [sc. its ineradicable fluidity] was ‘open texture’... The view is that the meanings of most words and expressions in common use are not precisely and exhaustively fixed, and..that it would be very inconvenient if they were. 1965Amer. Philos. Q. II. 112/2 There are practical reasons independent of vagueness, open-texture and the like for refusing to equate names with descriptions. 1966Ibid. III. 116/2 There is a certain ‘open texture’ about Christian beliefs.
1950Mind LIX. 159 Straightway we have a case of a vague and *open textured criterion. 1965Amer. Philos. Q. II. 120/1 The concepts they express are open-textured. 1974T. E. Wilkerson Minds, Brains & People 7 A concept is too open-textured, so we tighten it up a little.
1966Jrnl. Linguistics II. 243 The ordinary language philosopher..emphasizing the intricacy, variety and ‘*open-texturedness’ of language.
1938Chatelaine Mar. 32/3 *Open-toe shoes will be more popular than ever. 1942Sun (Baltimore) 12 Aug. 10/7, I don't understand window dressing, but it looks to me that some of the ‘girls’ displaying fur coats in Charles street windows are standing in the snow with open-toe shoes on.
1942R. Chandler High Window (1943) v. 43 She wore..blue and white *open-toed sandals. 1965‘M. Neville’ Ladies in Dark viii. 80 The shoe was none too new, open-toed and with a strap round the heel. 1973‘R. MacLeod’ Burial in Portugal iv. 91 She had simple open-toed sandals.
1771Connect. Col. Rec. (1885) XIII. 514 Every open chair and other *open top riding wheel-carriage [shall be rated] three pounds. 1856Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VII. 61 John Patton..[exhibited an] open top buggy. 1935Discovery June 163/1 The tin can has gradually developed into the present day open top or ‘sanitary’ can, with the ends rolled on by machine, and made airtight by a rubber gasket. 1955Amer. Speech XXX. 92 Open top, a rig with sides but no permanent top. 1972D. E. Westlake Bank Shot ii. 17 Open-top cartons full of paperback books. 1974‘J. Ross’ Burning of Billy Toober ix. 89 A veteran open-top Bentley in racing dark-green.
1964L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xix. 111 The *open-topped Mercedes that drove lazily past. 1977L. Gordon Eliot's Early Years v. 99 He walked across London Bridge amidst horse-drawn carts, open-topped buses.
[1901‘J. Flynt’ World of Graft 11 The City Hall gang went into office on the promise that the town was to be open, an' they've kept it open.] 1915Amer. Mag. Sept. 51/2 On an ‘*open town’ platform Gill was elected mayor in March, 1910. 1938H. Nicolson Diary 22 Sept. (1966) 364 It may mean surrender..in return for such quite valueless concessions as..‘no bombing of open towns’. 1939R. Campbell Flowering Rifle vi. 148 Keep safe his bomb-dump while our patience lasts While from its store our open towns he blasts. 1946Reader's Digest July 96/2 Amarillo is the most open-town in the country. 1975J. Gores Hammett vi. 43 They form a Committee to clean up San Francisco, and as chairman they take the man who's been running it as an open town for sixteen years.
1960Guardian 11 Mar. 8/7 Modern architects are known to favour *open-tread stairs. 1972Daily Tel. 29 Nov. 24/3 A circular, opentread hardwood stairway gives on to a galleried landing.
1966New Statesmen 14 Oct. 548/3 The *Open University..is the latest and most impressive offspring of the founders of ACE (Advisory Centre for Education). 1968Listener 12 Dec. 806/1 (Advt.), January 1971 is the starting date for the transmission of the BBC radio and television programmes which form part of the Open University foundation year courses. 1969Radio Times 27 Nov. 12 Originally named ‘the University of the Air’, the Open University offers an exciting new opportunity for adults throughout the country to study for degree qualifications through the media of integrated television, radio and specially-designed correspondence courses. 1973Listener 17 May 634/1 [John Stuart] Mill..set out to be a public thinker, a one-man Open University. 1977R.A.F. News 11–24 May 2/3 Gp Capt Frank Rice (Retd).. played a major part..in setting up the Cyprus Open University scheme.
1960N. Polunin Introd. Plant Geogr. xiv. 447 Cacti in the New World and cactus-like Euphorbias in the Old World frequently form a characteristic feature of the usually *open vegetation [in semi-deserts]. 1971D. W. Shimwell Descr. & Classification of Vegetation ii. 106 Where there is space between individuals which can be colonized.., the term open vegetation is applied.
1494Fabyan Chron. vii. 568 He was..*opyn vysaged layed in the mynster of Pounfrayt, so yt all men myght knowe and see that he was dede.
1960A. Huxley Let. 27 Dec. (1969) 901 Maxwell Jones..pioneered the *Open Ward system in English mental hospitals. 1965Nursing Times 5 Feb. 183/2 The staff kept her under as close observation as was possible in an open ward.
1922Beaver Jan. 33/1 We remained at Mountain House until *open water in the spring. Ibid. Sept. 9/1 When the open water came, I got one hundred and thirty-two beaver. 1930L. Munday Mounty's Wife iii. 50 We had to keep him at Cumberland until he could be taken to Prince Albert at open water. 1956H. S. M. Kemp Northern Trader (1957) x. 130 When open-water came..we were able to pitch-off to our private trapping grounds. 1956Polar Record Jan. 8 Open water, a relatively large area of water free of ice. 1971T. Boulanger Indian Remembers 4 The people came home after open water at Oxford House.
1900W. C. Sabine in Amer. Architect LXVIII. 22/1 [Hereafter all results..will be expressed in terms of the absorbing power of open windows.] Ibid., The absorbing power was found to be ·73 of *open-window units. 1957D. H. Fender Gen. Physics & Sound xii. 398 The area of material multiplied by its absorption coefficient measures its total absorption in ‘open window units’. 1968Punch 11 Sept. 364/2 An Open Window Unit (o.w.u.) is a unit of sound absorption... It is equal to the absorption by an open window of one square foot in area. 1968R. C. Stanley Light & Sound for Engineers xvi. 308 If the area of the surface is expressed in square feet, then the absorption is expressed in open window units or sabins.
1889W. Schlich Man. Forestry I. 9 Thin Wood, or *open wood, means a wood in which the crowns of the trees do not interlace. 1926Tansley & Chipp Study of Vegetation x. 210 Open woodland consists of open woodland without a closed and thickly interlaced canopy.
1790J. Armstrong Jrnl. in Ohio Archaeol. & Hist. Q. (1911) XX. 82 A course a little to the N. of W., passing through several small prairies and *open woods. 1799J. Smith Acct. Remarkable Occurrences 13 About the lick was clear, open woods, and thin white-oak land. 1823C. Vignoles Obs. Floridas 77 Instead of the clear open woods generally seen, masses of young pine saplings are thickly spread over the rocky ground. 1824D. E. Burch Let. 30 Oct. in Florida Hist. Q. XIV. 105 In the open woods, especially in the pine barrens, these [sc. fallen trees] can always be avoided by turning out. 1939Canad. Hist. Rev. XX. 282 The general results..would seem at first sight to point to the ‘groves’, ‘open woods’, ‘oak openings’, parklands, or whatever name one may give them, being more pronounced on the western borders of this huge territory than on the Atlantic slope.
B. adv. = openly (in various senses).
a1300Cursor M. 26215 His penance open most be schaun. 1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 26 [He] lernyd and knewe an ordir of euery thing synglerly, more opynner and fullyor than he knewe afore. 1533More Apol. 100 Some they say be playne and open false. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iii. 37 Do not then walke too open. 1780J. Woodforde Diary 24 Oct. (1924) I. 293 He..spoke very open and ingenuous about it. 1921E. O'Neill Diff'rent ii, in Emperor Jones 252 Tell me all about 'em. You needn't be scared—to talk open with me.
Add:[I.] [5.] f. U.S. Sport. Of a player: unmarked or unguarded by a member of the opposing team; esp. in phr. to find (hit, etc.) the open man, to pass the ball to the player in a position to receive it.
1937F. C. Allen Better Basketball xxi. 321 This player is now in [a] favorable position to pass to an open man. 1947D. X. Bible Championship Football v. 53 (heading) Getting Open. Before catching a pass, the receiver must get..away from the defenders. 1964Anderson & Albeck Coaching Better Basketball vii. 118 He will pass to the open cutter as his first duty. 1974State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 15 Feb. 2-b/4 We're passing the ball better, hitting the open man now. 1986New Yorker 24 Mar. 61/3 What sets Bird apart..is his..bent for..finding the open man.
[7.] c. Sport. Of a game or style of play: characterized by action which is spread out over the field; opp. tight a. 11 a.
1934D. Jack Soccer 135 Where there is speed and goal-scoring power in the middle and down the wings every effort should be made to exploit them to the full by keeping the game as open as possible. 1954F. C. Avis Soccer Ref. Dict. 86 Open game, that in which the ball is moved long distances at a time, because the players are well spaced out. 1976Morecambe Guardian 7 Dec. 8/7 Both sides played fast, open rugby to produce a high scoring game. 1981Old Etonian Assoc. Rep. 1980 9 The ground was firm, owing to an overnight frost, and so an open game could be played.
[22.] [c.] open date, (a) U.S. Sport, a future date for which no fixture has yet been arranged; a date that is free or available. (b) an unspecified future date, esp. one left undetermined when a travel ticket is bought; (c) on pre-packed perishable goods: a date marked to indicate clearly either the date of packing or the latest recommended date for sale; also as v. trans., to mark (a package) with an open date.
1949Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 10 Oct. 13/5 There will be no meeting of the teams to determine which is the better, although each has an *open date on November 12. 1967B. Norman Matter of Mandrake i. 9 I'll have a return ticket with an open date. 1971D. MacKenzie Sleep is for Rich vi. 189 The aeroplane tickets..had been issued in Hamburg, two first class singles from Paris to Sao Paulo, Brazil, with an open date. 1973Britannica Bk. of Year (U.S.) 306 Comprehensive proposals were made [in the U.K.] for a system of open-date marking of prepacked foods. 1977N.Y. Times 1 Sept. a20/4, I congratulate those manufacturers who have been willing to open-date their products. 1979Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 3d/2 The Toros had an open date for an exhibition game against the Rangers. Texas, with an open date available on the way to Anaheim, backed away.
open-dated a., (of a ticket) valid for an unspecified period.
1971P. Driscoll White Lie Assignment i. 9 From Munich I had an *open-dated return air ticket.
open dating vbl. n., the marking of packaged goods with an open date.
1970Wall St. Jrnl. 27 July 4/4 The companies generally oppose any *open dating of their products. They argue that their code dates are meant primarily as a management tool to assure that older items are sold first. 1976NBR Marketplace (Wellington, N.Z.) III. 35/3 Unit pricing and open dating are inevitable with the multiplicity of products available and the consumer's growing and real desire for more information on which to base his/her selection of products.
open goal Assoc. Football, an undefended goal(-mouth); a goal scored into this; also fig.
1934D. Jack Soccer 36, I always endeavoured to draw him near enough to me to indulge in a feint or a dribble past him to an *open goal. 1972G. Green Great Moments in Sport: Soccer xv. 134 Sadler..gave Henrique..the chance to save an open goal with his feet after Best had mesmerised and opened the defence with a dazzling dribble. 1986Marxism Today Sept. 17/1 Some of the very important debates like those on Cheltenham, which was an open goal for the trade union movement, were just buried without trace because of all these constant to-ings and fro-ings.
open interest Comm. (orig. U.S.), the number of contracts or commitments outstanding on a commodity market at any given time.
1959E. E. Nemmers Dict. Econ. & Business 206 *Open interest, in trading, the amount of a commodity required to satisfy unliquidated futures contracts at any given time. 1967L. W. Belveal Commodity Speculation iii. 40 This 10,000 bushels of July wheat..accounted for 80,000 bushels of trading volume and 10,000 bushels of ‘open interest’ throughout the life of the contract. 1981G. Chamberlain Trading in Options ii. 15 A broker will be able to provide up-to-date information regarding the open-interest position (i.e. the number of listed option contracts outstanding (open) at any particular time).
open outcry Comm. (orig. U.S.), a system of trading on an organized market or stock exchange in which the dealers call their bids and contracts aloud.
1968Commodity Trading Man. (Chicago Board of Trade) ix. 43/2 All offerings and bids must be made by *open outcry. 1981G. Chamberlain Trading in Options viii. 119 Dealing in traded options is by ‘open outcry’. 1989Independent 28 Mar. 22 The London International Financial Futures Exchange has also sought to replicate open-outcry trading with its Automated Pit Trading technology.
open plan: after ‘freq. attrib.’ read: ‘also transf. and fig.’
1977‘A. T. Ellis’ Sin Eater 62 The forced bonhomie of open-plan living. 1984Spectator 20 Oct. 29/2 Heaven, I imagine, is open-plan, so we can all be present at the reunification of the Linklaters and their relations.
Open Tech [see tech n.1], a technical college modelled on the Open University, and providing distance-learning courses of training in technical subjects.
1980Times 29 Jan. 4/3 The establishment of an ‘Open Tech’, using the distance-learning techniques of the Open University, to provide part-time courses for adults at technician level was suggested yesterday by Mr James Prior, Secretary of State for Employment. 1986Financial Times 8 Jan. (Survey Suppl.) p. viii/8 An Open Tech has now been founded to use similar distance-learning methods to offer retraining for adults at technician level in industry.
▸ open adoption n. a form of adoption in which the biological parents participate in the process of placing the child with an adoptive family and may continue to have contact thereafter.
1973Jrnl. Asian Stud. 32 735/1 The interpretations regarding motives and regarding the functional consequences of *open adoption range from psychological to cultural ones... Western culture tends to understress the social potentials of adoptive relationships. 1990Nation (N.Y.) 31 Dec. 842/2 Recent court decisions (not to mention social customs like open adoption, blended families and gay and lesbian co-parenting) have tended to respect a widening circle of adult relationships with children. 2001N.Y. Times Mag. 9 Dec. 88/1 Fueled by renewed faith in the importance of genes and by the victories of open-adoption advocates, the so-called identity-release movement is now leading sperm banks across the country to change the way they do business.
▪ III. open, v.|ˈəʊp(ə)n|
Forms: 1 openian, 2 openien, 3–5 opene(n, 4– open. (Also 3 hopen, 3–4 opon, 3–7 opne(n, 4 apon, hopne, upon, 5–6 opeyne, 6 Sc. apen; 3 Orm. oppnenn; 3–5, 9 dial. oppen, 4–6 -yn, 5 -ene.)
[OE. openian = OS. opanôn, oponôn (MDu. openen, Du. openen), OHG. offanôn, (MHG. offenen):—OTeut. *opanôjan, f. opan- open a. Cf. also Ger. öffnen.]
I. Transitive senses.
1. a. To move or turn (a door, gate, or the like) away from its closed position, so as to admit of passage.
Cf. the dial. ‘put up’ or ‘set up’ (the door); also Ger. aufmachen, aufthun, Du. opmaken, lit. to do or make up, put up, open.
c1000Ags. Psalms (Spelm.) cxvii. 19 Opnyað me gatu rihtwisnysse. c1205Lay. 19486 Duȝeðe scal arisen & oppenien [c 1275 hopeni] ure castel-ȝæten. a1225St. Marher. 12 Paraises ȝeten aren ȝarewe iopenet þe nu. a1300Cursor M. 1881 (Cott.) Þan opend noe his wyndou, Lete vte a rauen. c1375Ibid. 19788 (Fairf.) Wiþ þat ho openid hir eye-lid. c1400Destr. Troy 11308 Ne to pas of þis place, ne no port opun. c1420Chron. Vilod. 949 Upon þe durre, my lady. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 168 b, Knok, and it sall be apened vnto ȝou. 1629Milton Ode Nativity 148 Heav'n..Will open wide the Gates of her high Palace Hall. 1786tr. Beckford's Vathek (1883) 106 The Angel of death had opened the portal of some other world. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 404 Huy had opened its gates to the French. 1894W. E. Norris St. Ann's I. 177 He opened his lips, as if with the intention of putting some further question.
b. absol. (In sense 1 or 2.)
1382Wyclif Matt. xxv. 12 Lord, lord, opene to vs. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋215 He that openeth to me,..I wol entre in-to hym by my grace. c1400Apol. Loll. 16 He closiþ, & þan no man opunniþ; He opunniþ, & þan no man closiþ. c1470Henry Wallace v. 1018 Opyn, he bad, the captayne cummand was. 1535Coverdale Sol. Song v. 6 Whan I had opened vnto my beloued, he was departed, and gone his waye. 1793Arabian Nights IV. 125 Their captain..pronounced these words distinctly, Sesame (which is a sort of corn), open. 1841Lytton Nt. & Morn. iii. x, Open, in the King's name!
2. a. To make (a building, box, or enclosed space of any kind) open (open a. 2), as by moving or turning a door, gate, lid, by removing part of the walls, or clearing away anything that obstructs passage in or out; to break open, unclose, undo; to obtain or provide free access to or egress from.
c1200Ormin 7357 Þurrh þatt te kalldewisshe follc Oppne⁓denn þeȝȝre maddmess,..i þatt hus. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. II. 15 His tumbe was yopened. 13..Cursor M. 24423 (Cott.) Al opind war þair graues sen. 1382Wyclif Judg. iv. 19 The which openyde a botel of mylk, and ȝaf to hym to drynk. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 83 In his comynge prisouns were i-oponed. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) v. 14 He went and opned þe grafe. 1535Coverdale Gen. xlii. 35 Whan they opened their sackes, euery man founde his boundell of money in his sacke. a1550Freiris of Berwik 373 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 297 Ga belyfe vnto ȝone almerie, And oppin it. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 2 Why, then the world's mine Oyster, which I, with sword will open. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock iv. 126 He first the snuff-box open'd, then the case. 1885Law Times LXXIX. 173/2 As soon as C— and Co.'s office was opened on the morning of the 19th. Mod. Shall we open another bottle?
b. In figurative expressions.
a1300Cursor M. 26118 (Cott.) Opins to your lauerd your hert. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxlvi. 547 Clement opyned his graces to all clerkes. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 184 My hand ha's open'd Bounty to you.
c. With the purpose as the main notion: To give access to; to render accessible to (persons or to the public) or for (some purpose); to make freely accessible; to establish for the entrance of the public, of customers, etc., as to open a shop, store, branch of a bank, registry office, etc. With various qualifications implied by the context.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 346 That no man open his house unto privy conventicles. 1647Boyle Let. to Dury 3 May, Wks. 1772 I. p. xxxix, Either to bolt heaven against, or open Newgate for all those, that believe [error]. 1791–1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit., Libraries 1 This library..Julius Cæsar once proposed to open for the public. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 378 The Government..ventured to open the Courts of Justice which the Estates had closed. Ibid. xviii. IV. 125 That the House of Lords and the House of Commons should be open to men to whom he would not open a guild of skinners. 1865Mill in Morn. Star 6 July, Everyone who gets into Parliament..by opening the public-houses, goes there to represent the vices of the constituency.
fig.1813M. Edgeworth Patron. I. iii. (1832) 40 Attempts were made to open the borough.
d. To declare (a building, park, etc.) open, and introduce to public use by a formal ceremony. (Passing into sense 13.)
1865W. Howitt Hist. Discovery in Austral. I. xiii. 207 Measures were..instituted to construct a high road through the whole distance already gone... It was then, in modern phraseology, opened by the governor, attended by Mrs. Macquarie, and an escort on horseback. 1889Bury Times 20 July 8/6 Prince Albert Victor visited Harrogate..and opened the new Buildings of the Bath Hospital. 1896Eastern Morn. News (Hull) 22 Feb. 1/2 St. Thomas's Church. Opening of the New Lectern. 1898Oxford Directory, The new Town Hall, Courts and Municipal Buildings..were opened by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales on..the 12th May, 1897.
3. a. To spread apart, widen, expand, unfold, unroll, extend. (Sometimes with combination of sense 2, as in to open a letter.) Also absol. with ellipsis of object, as ‘to open (sc. a book) at a page, on a part’, etc.
c1000Ags. Psalms (Spelm.) cxliv. 17 Openast [aperis] þu hand þine. a1240Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 201 Bitweonen þeo ilke ermes so swiðe wiðe to-spredde and i-openeð. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxiv. (Alexis) 396 We pray þe, opyne þi hand, & lat ws se þat closyt wryt. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 37 Whan þe book was i-opened. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. xxi, The tender flouris opnyt thame and sprad. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxi. 213 He opened the letter that he had folden afore togeder. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 135 b, It was not well ment to the Emperor, to stop his packet with letters and to open them. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xv. 8 Ȝe Mariguildis, forbid the sune To oppin ȝow euerie morrow! 1602Carew Cornwall 136 b, A little beyond Foy, the land openeth a large sandie Bay, for the sea to ouerflow. 1657North's Plutarch (1676) Add. Lives 35 With his hands he [Charlemaine] would open and extend four Horse-shoes being joyned together. 1711Addison Spect. No. 115 ⁋8 This opens the Chest. 1783–9T. Day Sandford & Merton, Cure of Gout (1851) 143 He too had a library, although he never opened a book. 1839I. Taylor Anc. Chr. I. iii. 411 Nor can we do better than open Chrysostom. 1882Daily Tel. 24 June, Three overs later B—opened his shoulders in tremendous style.
absol.1817Coleridge Biog. Lit. xviii. (1882) 172, I will take the first stanza, on which I have chanced to open, in the Lyrical Ballads. 1883Daily Tel. 15 May 2/7 U—then opened out, and..drove the captain..for 3.
b. To expand, enlarge (a hole or aperture).
1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 52 To open a Hole, is in Smith's Language, to make the Hole wider.
4. a. To make an opening in; to cut or break into; to make a hole or incision in, † to make a breach in (a wall or fortification). to open ground, to break up the surface of ground, as by ploughing, digging trenches, etc.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 147 Weren his side mid speres orde iopened. c1205Lay. 27556 Opened wes his breoste Þa blod com forð luke. a1300Cursor M. 17140 Bi-hald and se mi blodi side, Þat for þi luue es opend wide. 1306Exec. Sir S. Fraser xxiv. in Pol. Songs (Camden) 221 He wes y-opened, is boweles ybrend. 1486Bk. St. Albans E vij, With his feete he opynys the erth ther he gooth a way. 1568Grafton Chron. I. 148 The Speare wherewith Longeus opened Christes side. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 465 Who stooping op'nd my left side, and took From thence a Rib. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. xiv. 286 A battery of five or six pieces of cannon..would have opened it [the rampart] in a short time. 1794Hist. in Ann. Reg. 39 They did not..yield to the first summons, but waited until the French General had opened ground. 1807Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 305 The old moorland..had not been opened for time immemorial. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 252 If a localised abscess be discovered in the liver, it should be opened and drained.
b. To make, produce, or cause (an opening or open space of some kind). to open trenches, to dig trenches in besieging: see trench.
a1240Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 211 Þurh þine fif wunden iopened o rode. 1382Wyclif Isa. xli. 18, I shall opene in heȝe hillis flodys, and in the myddel of feeldis welles. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 29 But the Italians her awne..chyldren opened the gappe, and made the waye of her destruccion. 1667Milton P.L. i. 688 Soon had his crew Op'ned into the Hill a spacious wound. 1684J. Peter Siege Vienna 3 He had resolved to leave the Place, where he had not yet opened the Trenches. 1820Shelley Arethusa ii, Alpheus bold..With his trident..opened a chasm In the rocks. 1853Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. s.v. Trenches, To open the Trenches is to break ground for the purpose of carrying on approaches towards a besieged place.
†c. To penetrate by force, break through. Obs.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxx. 158 Certayne frenchemen..perforce opyned the archers of the princes batayle, and came and fought with the men of armes hande to hande. Ibid. clx. 195 To the entent they somwhat to breke and to opyn the archers.
5. a. To loosen (that which is tight, compact, close together, dense, stiff, etc.). (In various shades of meaning.) †b. To dissolve, decompose (obs.).
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxii. ⁋2 By Opening, you must now understand removing the Quoins, till they stand loose. 1686W. Harris tr. Lemery's Course Chym. i. vi. (ed. 3) 150 Verdegreese is nothing but a Copper opened. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Purgative, The saline part is set loose by preparation, and opening the sulphur. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 366 All kinds of manures open the soil. 1796Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 245 The leading troop..opens its ranks, at which time the officers..move into the front of the troop. 1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 38 The ranks will then be opened. Ibid. 154 From the centre open your Files.
6. a. To clear of obstruction or hindrance; to make (a road) free for passage. Chiefly fig.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 163 Þe way was opened forto take wreche of al olde wreþþe. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 70 It opened the waye to rebellion, sedition, and to civile warres. 1573Life Frith in Wks. (1829) 73 Wherewithal he might have opened an easy way unto honour and dignity. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 809 Thou op'nst Wisdoms way, And giv'st access, though secret she retire. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxiii. 297 Not without hope that some way of escape might yet be opened to him. 1891T. Hardy Tess (1892) 110 The field had already been ‘opened’; that is to say, a lane a few feet wide had been hand-cut through the wheat..for the first passage of the horses and machine.
b. To make (the passages of the body) clear; to clear away (obstructions) in the bodily passages.
1574Newton Health Mag. 55 Filberdes..are aperitive and open oppilations and obstructions. 1653Culpepper Lond. Disp. i. 6 [Endive] opens obstructions and provokes urine. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Hellebore, Sternutatory powder, to clear and open the head. 1755Johnson, Aperitive, that..has the quality of opening the excrementitious passages of the body. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 420 The bowels should be well opened at the onset by a brisk purgative.
c. Electr. To break or interrupt (an electric circuit); to put (a switch or the like) into a condition in which there is no path through it for an electric current.
In quot. 1834 the meaning is the opposite, viz. ‘to create, close’ (close v. 10 e).
[1834M. Faraday in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. CXXIV. 429 The presence of a piece of platina touching both the zinc and the fluid to be decomposed, opens the path required for the electricity.] 1836Ann. Electr., Magn., & Chem. I. 71 The shock is never produced only at the moment of opening the voltaic circuit. 1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy iv. 103 If B wishes to communicate with A he..opens the switch. 1924Wedmore & Trencham Switchgear for Electr. Power Control xxiii. 252 A smart operator can open a medium-voltage circuit safely with a plain lever switch. 1962Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 735/1 The circuit-breaker contacts are held closed by springs and the contacts are opened in the event of a fault by the overcurrent in a series solenoid coil. 1975M. Mandl Basics of Electr. vi. 123 When voltage is applied to the coil, the flexible section is pulled down.., opening the switch.
7. To uncover, lay bare, disclose to sight, expose or exhibit to view, display.
a1000Beowulf 3056 Nefne God sylfa..sealde þam ðe he wolde..hord openian. c1315Shoreham 54 The croune of clerke yopened hys, Tokneth the wyl to hevene. 1382Wyclif Isa. xxvi. 21 The erthe shal opene [1388 schewe] his blod. 1573–80Baret Alv. O 96 Opening their naked pappes. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 318 Herbs of every leaf..Op'ning their various colours. 1671― P.R. ii. 294 Alleys brown That open'd in the midst a woody Scene. 1746–7Hervey Medit. (1818) 206 The boughs, rounded into a set of regular arches, opened a view into the distant fields. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 95/1 The torch which..opened new prospects to his eager views. 1899Newcastle Even. Chron. 14 Mar., The hopper opened her red light and sounded a short blast.
8. Naut. To come in sight of, get an open view of, by rounding or passing some intervening object.
1748Anson's Voy. i. vii. 75 We opened Streights Le Maire, and soon after..entered them with fair weather and a brisk gale. Ibid. ii. ii. 130 We were..surprized..to see her open the N.W. point of the bay. 1768J. Byron Narr. Patagonia (ed. 2) 94 As soon as we opened the headland to the westward of us. 1837T. Hook Jack Brag xiv, The breeze, which blew right in his face..as he ‘opened’ the sea between Weston's shop and the library. 1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 227 Taking care not to open the Obelisk on the slope of the North Head. 1898R. Kipling Fleet in Being v. 46 The tide's setting us up a little... We shall open Dunboy House in a minute round the corner.
9.
†a. To lay bare or make manifest to the (mental or spiritual) view; to reveal, disclose, declare, make known. Obs. exc. as in b.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. vii. (1890) 36 Albanus..cyðde and openade..þat he cristen wære. c1175Lamb. Hom. 127 Of þere heouenliche blisse þe us wes iopenad. c1200Vices & Virtues 27 Min fader on heuene hit openede in to (þine) herte. a1325Prose Psalter xlviii[i.]. 4 Y.. shal open in þe sauter myn purpose. c1450tr. De Imitatione i. xiii. 15 Temptacion openiþ what we be. 1526Tindale Matt. xi. 27 Nether knoweth eny man the father, save the Sonne, and he to whome the Sonne will open hym. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xvi. 87 Nor open it to others that he was Messias. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. ii. xviii. (1622) 59 Semius openeth that by letters to Piso; warning him not to go about to tempt the army with corrupters. 1647Evelyn Diary 9 Nov., My sister open'd to me her marraige. 1771Antiq. Sarisb. Pref. Biog. 121 Striking incidents..which, if preserved, would open their real characters. 1804Europ. Mag. XLV. 42/2 The plan of the work is fully opened in the Preface.
b. esp. To disclose or divulge (one's mind, feelings, designs, etc.); refl. to communicate one's intentions or feelings, to unbosom oneself.
c1400Destr. Troy 553 He onswared hir onestly opynond his hert. 1533in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 115 That we should freindly open our minds each to other. 1545Brinklow Compl. 36 b, There may he open his matter hymself. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 152 Before his purpose was openly published, and hys frendes opened theim selfes. 1682Bunyan Holy War Wks. 1768 II. 7, I have opened my mind unto you. 1711Steele Spect. No. 240 ⁋1 When he was grown familiar with me he opened himself like a good Angel. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. I. xv. 366 The king began with opening his intentions to the Count of Hainault. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 406 Russell opened the design to Shrewsbury. 1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. vii. §8. 269 To them, he can open himself, by a word, or syllable, or a glance.
†c. To announce, declare; to make public, promulgate. Obs.
1433Rolls of Parlt. IV. 423/2 For oþer diverse causes, openyd and alleggid. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 138 b, When this matter was opened through Englande, howe the greate men toke it..the poore curssed, the riche repugned. 1562in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. xxxi. 310 That the sum of mony by him given be opened by the parson, vicar or curate, to the parish. 1656Burton's Diary (1828) I. 57, I cannot but dissent from the gentlemen that have opened it to be blasphemy.
10. To unfold the sense of; to expound, explain, interpret. Obs. or arch.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 217 On þesse fewe litele wored lotied fele gode wored ȝif hie weren wel ioponen. a1225Ancr. R. 242 Euerichon of þeos wordes wolde habben longe hwule uorte beon wel iopened. a1340Hampole Psalter Prol., Þou sall fynd þaim oppynd in þaire stedis. 1382Wyclif Luke xxiv. 32 Wher oure herte was not brennynge in vs, while he..openyde scripturis to vs? c1449Pecock Repr. Prol. 1 First openyng or doing to wite, thanne next blamyng, and aftirward biseching. 1535Coverdale 2 Esdras xiii. 21, I will open vnto the, the thinge yt thou hast requyred. 1571Digges Pantom. iii. xii. R iv b, Your quotient openeth how many times the lesser vessell is conteyned in the greater. 1642W. Ames Marrow of Divinity title-p., A table opening the hard words. 1720Waterland Eight Serm. 233 The force of these Expressions I have elsewhere open'd and explain'd.
11. To make more intelligent or sympathetic; to expand, enlarge, enlighten (the mind or heart).
a1310in Wright Lyric P. xxv. 71 Ihesu, my saule drah the to, Min heorte opene ant wyde un-do. 1382Wyclif Acts xvi. 14 A womman Lidda bi name..whos herte the Lord openyde. 1526Tindale Luke xxiv. 45 Then openned he their wyttes, that they myght vnderstond the scriptures. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vi. §16 Not only opening our understanding..but chiefly opening our belief. 1713Berkeley Guardian No. 39 ⁋8 His Understanding wants to be opened and enlarged. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. ix. 305 My eyes had been opened, and my heart with them.
12. To render accessible or available for settlement, use, intercourse, etc.; as to open land, to open a country to trade. Usually open up: see 24.
1617Abp. Abbot Descr. World (1634) 292 The English..did adventure farre to open the North parts of America. 1816Brackenridge Jrnl. Voy. Missouri (ed. 2) 28 We stopped..at the cabin of an old Frenchman, who is beginning to open a plantation, according to the phraseology of the western country. 1863Alford in Gd. Words Mar. 199 We are to understand that a communication is to be opened between two places.
13. a. To begin, start, commence; to set in action, initiate, set on foot (any proceedings, operations, or business). to open an account, open the ball or the campaign, open fire, open parliament, etc.: see the ns. (Allied to 2 d.)
1693[see campaign n. 3]. 1709Steele Tatler No. 17 ⁋5 The Allies hasten their Preparations for opening the Campaign. 1712Addison Spect. No. 267 ⁋2 He..opens his Poem with the Discord of his Princes. 1731Gentl. Mag. Dec. 538/2 The Duke gave a Ball, which..his Highness open'd with the Princess Mary. 1735Bertin Chess v, Never play your Queen, till your game is tolerably well opened. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 162 The pictures were..exhibited to the public, and the subscription opened. 1781Hist. Eur. in Ann. Reg. 24/2 On the 12th of March the Spaniards opened their battery. 1787Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 316 They are about to open a loan of one hundred millions. 1827Roberts Voy. Centr. Amer. 54 To open a trade with the Indians in the interior. 1833Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 46 §61 An account to be opened in the name of the Commissioners. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike ix. 92 Opening the weekly meetings. 1839Thirlwall Greece VI. 15 Ptœodorus..had opened a correspondence with him. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 274/2 It is the practice for the lord chancellor, with other peers appointed by commission..to open the parliament by stating ‘that her Majesty will [etc.]’. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 205 A negotiation was opened. 1889Boldrewood Robbery under Arms xxxiv, We opened fire at them directly. Mod. The Queen will open Parliament in person.
b. Bridge. To commence (the bidding); to offer (a particular bid).
1958Listener 6 Nov. 753/1 What should West open, assuming that he is playing a Two Club system? 1964N. Squire Bidding at Bridge ii. 17 When you open the bidding with a suit your strength may be absolutely minimum. Ibid. 21 You should open One Diamond, as your hand is unsuitable for you to be declarer in no-trumps. 1977Times 10 Dec. 13/5 North has opened One Spade at game and 30. 1977Harpers & Queen Dec. 26/2 West opened the bidding with one of those..artificial Two Diamond calls.
14. Legal. To state (a case) to the court, preliminary to adducing evidence; esp. to speak first in a case, a privilege belonging to the affirmative side. to open pleadings, in a trial before jury, to state briefly the substance of the pleadings. Also, To state or bring forward (an argument, assertion, etc.) in opening a case.
1621H. Elsing Lords' Debates App. (1870) 134 The breefes of the whole abuses read in open Court, w[hi]ch Sir Randolph Crew in divers poyntes opened to their Lordships... Mr. Atturney Generall opened divers poyntes to their Lordships touching these abuses. 1631Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 6 The Complainants Counsell having made their charge, and opened all their proofes, the defendants Counsell having also made their defence. c1645Howell Lett. (1655) IV. viii. 24 She may make Her self your Client, and so employ you to open her Case, and recover her Portion. 1682Dryden Medal Ep. to Whigs ⁋4 You retained him only for the opening of your cause,..your main lawyer is yet behind. 1891Daily News 8 Dec. 7/5 Sir H. D. was opening the case for the respondents when the Court rose.
15. To undo, recall, or set aside (a judgement, settlement, sale, etc.), so as to leave the matter open to further action, discussion, or negotiation.
1792in Vesey, jr. Reports I. (1801) 453 The Court gives its assistance to open biddings, for the benefit of the suitor and the estate, not of the purchaser. 1806Ld. Erskine ibid. XIII. 204 The true Equity and Justice of the Case seem to be, that Foreclosure is opened by the Action [brought by the mortgagee]. 1848Arnould Mar. Insur. (1866) I. i. vi. 292 The policy was to be opened. By this, these writers understood that the agreed valuation was to be set aside as the standard and basis of the underwriter's liability. 1867Act 30 & 31 Vict. c. 48 §7 It is the long settled practice of courts of equity in sales by auction of land under their authority to open biddings even more than once. Ibid., That the practice of opening the biddings..be discontinued..unless..on the ground of fraud or improper conduct. 1877Sir G. Jessel in Law Rep. 7 Ch. Div. 175 The mortgagor is entitled to open the foreclosure on the usual terms.
II. intr. (Sometimes for refl., sometimes ellipt. or absol. use of the trans.)
16. a. To become open, unshut, or unclosed: (a) of a door or other means of entrance; (b) of the passage or doorway; (c) of the space or enclosure to which this gives access. Hence, (d) generally, to come apart or asunder, so as to admit of passage, disclose a gap or vacant space, display the interior or contents. (e) Of an abscess, To burst and discharge.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 258 Byrᵹenu openodon mid deadum banum. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3772 Erðe..opnede vnder [h]ere fet. c1375Cursor M. 3783 (Fairf.) Him þoȝt þe ȝate opened of heyuen. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 368 For eny wye oþer warde wyde openede þe ȝates. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 289 b, The herte hoppeth and lepeth in the body: and now openeth & now closeth. 1573–80Baret Alv. O 112 The skie openeth, or goeth asunder. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 47 Thus I enforce thy rotten Iawes to open. 1647A. Ross Mystag. Poet. x. (1675) 236 The Marigold..opens or shuts with the Sun. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 14 My wound opened again with riding. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 170 The bony covers open and give it a free passage. 1828Scott F.M. Perth iv, They were scarce gone ere the door of the glover's house opened. 1864E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene 107 The windows should open at the top, and in case the wind has a high velocity, means should be taken to distribute it. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 157 Law offices opened at eight o'clock in those days. 1871L. W. M. Lockhart Fair to See I. iii. 103 ‘A Cameron of Aberlorna!’ exclaimed the host, in a tone of unaccountable astonishment, his eyes opening wide upon Bertrand. 1893M. E. Mann In Summer Shade I. x. 238 Claude's eyes opened slowly upon his brother's face. 1912Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 82/1 Suddenly the great eye of the lighthouse opened. 1952M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke iv. 68 It was just when we were opening... I was just getting my keys for the spirits.
b. Of the weather: To become clear of frost.
1678Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 45 As soone as the weather opens to allow travelling.
c. Of things non-physical, the way to them, etc.
1845Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) I. 390 The heir to an estate..when the succession to it opens or becomes vacant upon the death of the proprietor.
d. Electr. Of a circuit or device: to become open (open a. 11 f); to suffer a break in its conducting path.
1836Ann. Electr., Magn., & Chem. I. 71 If there is a spark..it is..feeble when compared to that seen when the circuit is opening. 1924Wedmore & Trencham Switchgear for Electr. Power Control ii. 14 The circuit breaker..is designed to open freely and quickly. 1975I. Clucas Reed's Electr. for Deck Officers vii. 215 A second pair of contacts..are the first to close and the last to open... They take the full brunt of the spark when opening. Ibid. 224 When the main switch is closed the buzzer should sound..and the individual circuits open.
17. a. Of a door, etc.: To serve as a passage to or into; to give access to. b. Of a room or space: To have an opening or passage to, into, out of, etc. Also c. To have its opening, or outlet towards, to lie open to.
a.1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 124 A door that opened into a garden; and..another door that opened to the street. 1832Act 2 & 3 Will. IV, c. 64 Sched. O. 45 The gate..opens into an occupation road leading to Penrallt. 1885Law Times LXXX. 5/1 The rooms have an outer door opening on to a common staircase.
b.1615Bedwell Arab. Trudg. Mj. Babe'lmandeb,..is the mouth of the Arabian gulfe [i.e. Red Sea], by which it openeth and falleth into the Red sea [i.e. Indian Ocean]. 1722De Foe Plague (1884) 171 The back Road..opened into the said great Road. 1801Lusignan III. 155 A library, opening through a greenhouse on to a lawn. 1817J. Evans Excurs. Windsor 268 The house, an old one, opens upon seven acres of ground.
c.1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 472 A Cote that opens to the South prepare. 1825Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 25, I saw a lane opening in the right direction. 1839J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. xii. 140 A valley opening to the sea shore.
18. a. To expand, extend, spread apart. Of a collective body or its units: To move apart so as to present openings or wider interstices. Also open out: see 23.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xliv. (MS. Bodl.) lf. 24/1 For drawyng and by fonging of winde þe bladder openyth and sprediþ. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 481 They shoot forth..op'ning to the ambient light. 1675tr. Machiavelli's Prince (1883) 242 His horse,..opening to the right and left,..made room for the foot. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 297 The little flag..opened once more to the breeze.
b. fig. To expand in intellect or sympathy.
1709Felton Classics (1718) 38 To repeat his Grammar over, two or three Years before his Understanding opens enough to let him into the Reason..of the Rules. 1713Steele Englishm. No. 55. 354 All Hearts begin to open.
19. a. To become disclosed or revealed, to begin to appear; to expand to the view, to become more and more visible, esp. on nearer approach or change of position.
1708J. Philips Cider ii. 86 Joy and Pleasure open to the View. 1782Cowper Table-t. 265 The varied fields of science, ever new, Opening and wider opening on her view. a1822Shelley Summer 6 The stainless sky Opens beyond them like eternity. 1842Lytton Zanoni v. 29 Mournful Campagna, thou openest on us in majestic sadness. 1844Mrs. Browning Brown Rosary iii. ii, Down through the wood..Till the chapel-cross opens to sight. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 420 Plato had the wonders of psychology just opening to him.
b. Naut. To appear distinct or separate.
1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 56 The Town of Payta..began to open in a direct line with it [the Point that forms the Bay]. 1854Moseley Astron. i. (1874) 2 The lights..will appear to separate, or in the nautical phrase, they will open. 1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 226 The..Lighthouse has opened its own breadth north of the..Obelisk below it.
20. To disclose or declare one's knowledge, thoughts, or feelings in speech, to speak out; to speak explicitly, explain.
a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 300 His enemies..would soone be quashed and not once dare to open, if hee were at Court. 1753Foote Eng. in Paris ii. Wks. 1799 I. 44 It will be impossible for me to divine: but come, open a little. 1775T. Hutchinson Diary 9 Nov. I. 555 He opened very largely on the state of affairs. 1809Malkin Gil Blas xii. xiii. ⁋7 He did not open on the subject of Seraphina, nor did we attempt to draw him out. 1830Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 304 When I opened, I found that this man was willing to open too. 1841J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. 231 If he opens upon it I'll give him a sound thrashing.
21. Of hounds: To give tongue, to begin to cry when in pursuit on a scent; hence, contemptuously, of men.
1565–73Cooper Thesaurus, Circumspecti canes..good hounds that open not but where they finde. 1573–80Baret Alv. O 114 To vent, or open as an hound or spaniel doth, when he hath the sent of anie thing. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 209 If I cry out thus vpon no traile, neuer trust me when I open againe. 1657Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 68 The deep-mouth'd dogs open'd loud. 1735Somerville Chase i. 110 To chear the Pack Op'ning in Consorts of harmonious Joy. 1836Penny Cycl. V. 7/2 When in pursuit..the hound opens with a voice deep and sonorous.
22. To begin; to start or commence operations. In theatrical parlance, To make a début, to begin a season or tour. Often elliptical, for open fire. Also, to begin to speak (occas. with the quoted words as quasi-obj.).
1716Addison Free-holder No. 22 ⁋2 Our Conversation opened, as usual, upon the Weather. 1761Foote Liar i. Wks. 1799 I. 282 Where do we open?.. Let us see—one o'clock—..the Mall will be crouded. 1803Mrq. Wellesley Desp. (1877) 366 The batteries of the British army opened against the fort. 1827–39De Quincey Murder Wks. 1862 IV. 52 In spite of all I could do or say, the orchestra opened. 1828Lights & Shades I. 245 W. Settle opened in ‘Liberty Hall’. 1851C. Cist Sk. Cincinnati in 1851 296 They [sc. strawberries] usually open at 20 to 30 cents per quart. c1871J. Albery Apple Blossoms 1, in Dramatic Wks. (1939) I. 244 Come and see me open to-night. 1876Trevelyan Macaulay II. xv. 469 When the year 1859 opened. 1880Daily News 1 Mar. 3/3, I open in this piece, providing myself the company, and superintending the rehearsals. 1883Manch. Guard. 3 Nov. 6/6 Lard opened active at higher prices. 1884Ibid. 22 May 5/2 The summer session of the French Chambers opened on Tuesday. 1894Wolseley Marlborough II. 175 A battery of eight guns opened on the fleet. a1902Mod. Our school opens next Monday. 1926A. Bennett Lord Raingo i. xiii. 63 ‘I quite agree with you, Clews,’ Sam opened immediately. 1972Time 17 Apr. 28/1 Joey and Sina, whose young daughter opened in the Broadway play Voices last week, soon became a part of the theater⁓going, nightclubbing celebrity set. 1976B. Freemantle November Man iv. 47 ‘Jocelyn is still the big tycoon,’ he opened predictably. 1977A. Morice Murder in Mimicry i. i. 11 Gilbert is our new lead... His name alone ensures a sell-out for the entire run..before we even open.
III. With adverbs.
23. open out. trans.
a. To render visible or accessible by the removal of that which envelopes or conceals; to unfold, unpack.
b. To develop.
c. To disclose, reveal, display or offer to mental view. intr.
d. To expand, extend, move apart: = sense 18.
e. To give vent to one's feelings or thoughts: to speak out, speak freely; = sense 20.
a.1861Clough Poems, etc. (1869) I. 248 In one spot some lesser ruins have been opened out. 1882H. De Windt Equator 99 Coal is found..here, and Government has opened out a small mine for the use of its vessels. 1883J. W. Sherer At Home & in India 112 We..had got our tin travelling cases inside, and were opening out some necessary things.
b.1826Southey in Corr. w. C. Bowles (1881) 93 Whether the studied deference which is now assumed toward me,..will open out anything like a frank and easy intercourse time must show. 1878Gladstone Glean. (1879) I. 206 The work of searching the soil and the bowels of the territory, and opening out her enterprise throughout its vast expanse.
c.1814Coleridge Lett., to D. Stuart (1895) 631 Having for the very first time..opened out my whole feelings and thoughts concerning my past fates and fortunes. a1834― in Lit. Rem. (1836) II. 96 The perfect probability of the moment chosen by Prospero..to open out the truth to his daughter. 1865Ch. Times 28 Oct., The newly-formed diocese opened out a magnificent opportunity for a Bishop whose training fitted him for his work.
d.1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 154 The left wing open out. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 30 A Battalion in Close column should first open out to quarter-distance. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. iv. iii. 245, I was glad when the trees began to open out..and we came upon the..meadow.
e.1855Costello Stor. Screen 89 She now opened out a little, and told me [etc.]. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. v. (1889) 42 Tom..[was] very much astonished at himself for having opened out so freely.
f. trans. and intr. To open the throttle of (an engine); to accelerate. colloq. Cf. sense 24 e below.
1906Punch 19 Sept. 200/1 ‘Open her out!’ my host had said; And on the instant word The mobile monster flew ahead Like a prodigious bird. 1918‘Q’ Foe-Farrell 105 There was a certain amount of outcry in the rear. But I opened-out down the slope and soon had it well astern. 1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 41/1 Such a ‘light’ engine would not withstand being opened out fully near the ground.
24. open up. (Up is added to open in many of its senses, often merely with the effect of strengthening or giving emphasis, but esp. in the following.)
a. trans. To open to view, access, use, passage, or traffic (usually implying the removal of obstructions to sight or access); to lay open (a question previously untouched); to bring to light, disclose, raise and leave open or unsettled. Also absol.; spec. to open a door or the like.
1582–8Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 180 To oppin up the meanes for the mair facill atteening to a gude peace. 1793Monthly Rev. XI. 159 The place which is first opened up. 1827Carlyle Germ. Rom. IV. 149 By Miracles and Similitudes, a new world is opened up. c1829Coleridge in Sterling's Ess. & Tales (1848) I. Life 23, I..detected two errors; one of them the phrase open up a subject, which, I suppose, is an innovation of the sectarian pulpits. 1844Mill Ess. Pol. Econ. 97 The views of political economy which his [Ricardo's] genius was the first to open up. 1851Dixon W. Penn i. (1872) 3 Opening up a new and tempting branch of trade. 1852Gladstone Glean. (1879) IV. 191 This inquiry, however, opens up and detects the master fallacy. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 19 Sept. 6/2 Each turn of the road..opened up new effects in the enchanting landscape. 1884Pall Mall G. 29 Aug. 11/2 He would begin by opening up, say, twenty-five acres his first year, clearing, draining, and planting. 1895Manch. Guard. 14 Oct. 5/6 The Isker Valley line..will open up this country for the first time. 1935M. M. Atwater Murder in Midsummer xxii. 210 Why didn't you open up when I knocked? 1976‘H. Carmichael’ False Evidence i. 14 Someone knocked at the door... ‘Open up, Miss Crawford.’
b. intr. To become open to passage, view, enterprise, etc. (by the removal of obstructions).
1857Livingstone Trav. xx. 407 Avenues of wealth opening up so readily. Mod. Hoping a way will open up.
c. trans. and intr. To shear wool from (a particular area, esp. the neck, of a sheep). Austral. and N.Z.
1882Armstrong & Campbell Austral. Sheep Husbandry xiv. 167 The fleece should be opened up the neck, commencing at the brisket. 1904‘G. B. Lancaster’ Sons o' Men 81 A big Maori was making the [shearing] pace; opening up in a scientific fashion with a clean-run cut over the ear-root. 1914H. B. Smith Sheep & Wool Industry Australasia vi. 37 The machine is then driven up the front of the neck several times till the neck wool is well opened up. 1956G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) iii. 32 Three short sharp blows are essential here to open up the neck for clean shearing.
d. intr. To talk; to speak openly; to cease to be secretive.
1921Sat. Even. Post 12 Feb. 61/4 We had a drink and we had another and a couple more. Finally he opened up... It took him two hours to tell his story. 1949B. Wolfe in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 534 How much did the Negroes tell him when they ‘opened up’? Just how far did they really open up? 1952‘N. Shute’ Far Country 244 It's just possible she might open up with me. a1953E. O'Neill Hughie (1959) 23 At first, he wouldn't open up. Not that he was cagy about gabbin' too much. But like he couldn't think of nothin' about himself worth saying. 1970M. Braithwaite Never sleep Three in a Bed xvi. 197 Although he never answered—or perhaps because of it—I opened up to him completely, telling him things I'd never told anyone. 1976J. Crosby Nightfall xii. 66 You're not being very helpful... You must have a few ideas. Open up!
e. trans. and intr. To open the throttle of (an engine); to accelerate. Cf. sense 23 f above.
1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 41/1 At height, however, it [sc. an aircraft engine] could be fully opened up, and the increased power..taken advantage of. 1926T. E. Lawrence Let. 27 Sept. (1938) 500 It's my great game on a really pot-holed road to open up to 70 m.p.h. or so and feel the machine gallop. 1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 95 On no account..should the engine be opened up during the final stages of ditching. 1970K. Benton Sole Agent vii. 78 She's a nice car, the Chevvy. She'd do ninety if I opened her up. 1973‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird ix. 131 As soon as he's got a clear stretch of road, he'll open up and you'll lose him.
f. intr. To start shooting (at or on someone). Also fig.
1939H. L. Ickes Diary 30 July (1954) II. 688 Two or three days ago John L. Lewis, before the Labor Committee of the House, opened up savagely on Garner. 1974Black Panther 16 Mar. 16/4 Frelimo guerrillas opened up on the train from both sides ‘creating panic among the passengers’, according to the report. 1974J. Cleary Peter's Pence i. 25 Someone had fired a shot at the Tans and the latter had opened up as if on a duck shoot.
IV. Phrases. to open a (or the) door to: see door 3. † to open one's ears, to give ear, listen willingly or attentively. to open one's eyes, to take notice, regard, look; to stare with astonishment. to open a person's eyes, to cause him to see, to make him aware of facts. to open one's mouth, i.e. in order to swallow or eat, or (also open one's lips) to speak; not to open one's lips, to be absolutely silent.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 35 Hie openeden his earen to luste þe defles lore. a1300Cursor M. 19941 Petre opend þan his muth..he said [etc.]. a1340Hampole Psalter xxi. 12 Þai oppynd on me þaire mouth. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 705 In þat howre god hopnyt þar ewyn. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xii. 61 (Rawlinson MS.) For god is def now a dayes and deyneth [see dain v.] his heres to opne. 1545Brinklow Lament. 20 He must open his mouthe agaynst Antichriste. 1711Budgell Spect. No. 77 ⁋6 He..thinks a great deal, but never opens his Mouth. 1712Steele ibid. No. 427 ⁋1 Too ill-natur'd to open their Lips in Conversation. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 247 In the House of Lords he never opened his lips. 1874Q. Rev. CXXXVI. 131 Already the eyes of her prelates..are being opened to the hollowness of the plea. 1879Escott England I. 360 The door is opened to a host of frauds.
Hence ˈopened ppl. a., made open.
14..Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 564/35 Apertus, openyd. a1568in Bannatyne MS. (1879) 673/17 Hir hair wes lyk the oppynnit silk. 1765Universal Mag. XXXVII. 236/1 A..quantity of this poison is dropped into an opened vein. 1837Marryat Dog-Fiend ix, Beer was foaming from the mouths of the opened bottles. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 40 The escort will be drawn up..with opened ranks. 1889Pall Mall G. 1 Jan. 4/3 In the present opened-up condition of Central Africa.
Add:[I.] [4.] d. To cut open (the leaves of a book).
1815Jane Austen Let. 23 Nov. (1952) 432 We have heard much of Scott's account of Paris... Would you favour us with it, supposing you have any set already opened? 1989Daily Tel. (Weekend Suppl.) 25 Feb. p. xiii/7, I..watched him open the uncut pages of a handsome volume with his spectacles..which..left the edge of each page in tatters.
e. To cut or polish part of (a rough gem) in order to examine its interior. Occas. with up.
1916F. B. Wade Diamonds iv. 105 When in the rough, the cutter can ‘open up’ the stone; that is, polish a tiny spot on the surface through which to study the interior. 1961G. F. Leechman Opal Bk. vi. 165 Before our find can be made into a jewel it must be cleaned off and ‘opened’ here and there to see just where the colour lies. 1965J. Y. Dickinson Bk. Diamonds viii. 215 Opening a diamond, a trade term among diamond cutters for the polishing of a facet on a heavily coated or rough surface diamond in order to secure a ‘window’ into the interior of the diamond. 1970E. Bruton Diamonds xvii. 295 It is normally a highly speculative financial operation to buy a coated crystal which has not been opened.
▸ trans. to open one's legs (to someone): (of a woman) to have or invite sexual intercourse (with someone). Cf. open-legged adj. at open adj. Special uses 3.
[a1632J. Webster & W. Rowley Cure for Cuckold (1661) iv. i, Ray. Yes a shoulder, and we'l be there too, or a leg opened with Venison sawce. Comp. No legs opened by your leave; nor no such sawce.] 1702T. Brown Amusements Serious & Comical (ed. 2) 53 She was soundly beaten by a Spark of hers, sometime since, for opening her Legs so freely to some other Humble Servant. 1960E. Merriam Trouble with Love 58, I could open my legs and shut my eyes there's nothing so special about his size. 1994O. Nolla in Callaloo 17 749 On several occasions he will think of his white town and his bed so clean and of the beautiful Maricarmen opening her legs to him. 2000R. Topping Kevin & Perry go Large ix. 85 Brainless little dolly birds who'd sooner open their legs than start a conversation.
▸ trans. To write or type the punctuation mark that typically forms the first of a pair of (brackets, quotation marks, etc., which enclose a piece of text). Freq. in imper. Hence forming noun compounds denoting such a punctuation mark, as open bracket, open quote, etc. Cf. close v. Additions.
1948R. M. Gay & M. E. Skillin Words into Type 276 A comma may precede an open parenthesis only if the word or words in parenthesis clearly limit a following word. 1965MLN 80 (Spanish Issue) 283 Vs. 9562, read quanc'ai..; vs. 9677, add oi to the variants of T (cf. n.); vs. 10253, open quotes. 1965Math. of Computation 19 358 The usual run of typographical errors—..three open brackets.., where by implication there should be seven,..and so on. 1983InfoWorld (Nexis) 11 July 76 The other single quote, which would be used as an open quote (‘) on the systems where it prints differently than the apostrophe. 1987R. Curtis & B. Elton Blackadder Third in R. Curtis et al. Black-adder (1998) 327/2 Open brackets, this is not a joke, I do not find my name remotely funny and people who do end up dead, close brackets. 2003Scotsman (Nexis) 30 May 7 What did she say? I can do no better than open the quotation marks and let the lassie holler. |